M 

mmm 

UH                    H 

fninlnllljnnn  nn         11 

A 

o 

A 

O 

(= 

0 

0 

1 

4 

5 

6 

2   W 

2 
9 

^^  H          1 1  11  1 

^^=^  ■          1 1    i  1 

>  H        11  HI  iHi  tit  H 

8 

^^=  !=    ^H                   ■  nMl  itnintnil 

7  " 

^^^HBil 

■ 

>     / 


LB 
1595 


HfAndvork   in- 


struction   for    boys 


HJZl- 


Southern  Branch 
of  the 

University  of  California 

Los  Angeles 

Form  L   I 

LB 

1595 

Pll 


STATE  KORMAI.  SCHOOL 

LOS  ANGELES,  CAUFöEMlA 


,^^ 


Handwork 
Instruction  for  Boys 

By  Dr.  Alwin  Pabst 

Director  of  School  for  Training  Teachers  of  Handwork 
Leipsic,  Germany 


Translated  from  the  German 

By  Bertha  Reed  Coffman,  A.  M. 

St.  Louis,  Missouri 


THE  MANUAL  ARTS  PRESS 

PEORIA.  ILLINOIS 


COPYRIGHT    1910 

THE    MANUAL    ARTS   PRESS 

PEORIA,    ILLINOIS 


"pl^ 


DEDICATED  TO 

E.  VON  SCHENCKENDORFF 

MEMBER  OF  THE  PRUSSIAN  DIET  AND  VERY 

DISTINGUISHED  PRESIDENT  OF  THE 
GERMAN   SOCIETY  FOR  HAND- 
WORK   FOR    BOYS. 


TRANSLATOR'S  PREFACE. 

In  translating  this  work  I  have  endeavored  to  be  as 
literal  as  possible  w^ithout  injury  to  the  English.  The 
clear,  concise  style  of  the  author  has  made  this  easier  to 
do  than  would  be  the  case  with  many  German  writers. 

For  the  convenience  of  English  readers  all  technical 
terms  have  been  translated,  with  the  exception  of  a  very 
few  which  have  no  English  equivalent. 

In  America  there  is  no  institution  which  corresponds  ex- 
actly to  the  Volksschule,  Bürgerschule,  Gymnasium,  Real- 
schule, Seminar,  or  Hilfschule. 

The  Volksschule  (plural  Volksschulen)  is  the  elemen- 
tary school  of  Germany.  It  differs  from  the  public  schools 
of  America  in  several  essentials.  In  the  Volksschule 
every  pupil  must  pay  tuition  unless  he  is  too  poor  to  do  so. 
Another  point  of  difference  is  that  while  the  public  schools 
of  our  country  are  attended  by  nearly  every  child  of  school 
age,  the  German  Volksschule  loses  many  children  who  pre- 
fer to  attend  other  schools. 

The  Bürgerschule  (plural  Bürgerschulen)  as  its  name 
indicates,  is  a  school  for  the  middle  classes. 

The  Gymnasium  (plural  Gymnasien)  has  a  course  of 
nine  years  of  classical  work  preparatory  to  the  university, 
while  the  Real-Gymnasium  prepares  for  advanced  tech- 
nical work  in  the  Technische  Hochschule,  or  technical  col- 
lege. 

The  Realschule  (plural  Realschulen)  is  a  non-classical 
school  offering  a  course  of  six  years  in  mathematics,  the 


6  HANDWORK  INSTRUCTION  FOR  BOYS. 

sciences  and  modern  languages.  This  school  corresponds 
to  some  extent  to  the  American  high  school. 

The  term  Seminar  (plural  Seminare)  may  mean  a  nor- 
mal school  for  the  training  of  teachers  or  it  may  refer,  as 
in  the  American  universities,  to  a  special  class  organized 
for  advanced  study  in  any  particular  subject.  Dr.  Pabst 
uses  the  term  with  the  former  significance. 

Under  the  term  Hilfschule  are  included  many  kinds  of 
institutions.  In  the  beginning  of  the  fourth  chapter  Dr. 
Pabst  explains  his  use  of  the  word,  applying  it  to  all  insti- 
tutions for  the  training  of  mentally  defective  children.  It 
is  also  applied  to  reform  schools. 

It  affords  me  pleasure  to  express  at  this  time  my  appre- 
ciation of  the  assistance  rendered  by  all  who  have  aided  in 
the  preparation  of  this  work.  I  wish  especially  to  thank 
the  author,  who  has  taken  an  active  interest  in  this  Ameri- 
can edition,  furnishing  the  photographs  and  offering  valu- 
able suggestions,  and  Mr.  Charles  A.  Bennett,  who  has 
read  critically  the  entire  manuscript  and  rendered  valuable 
aid  throughout  the  progress  of  the  work. 

McMillan  Hall, 
Washington  University, 
Siint  Louis 
November,  1909. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


Chapter  I. — Instruction  in  Handwork  Based 
Upon  the  History  of  Civilization  (Socio- 
logical AND  Technological),  upon  Psy- 
chology^   and    upon    the    Demands    of 
Teaching   13 

The  human  hand  and  the  tool.  Motor  sensations 
and  exercise  of  the  muscles.  The  significance  of  the 
activity  of  the  hand  for  spiritual  development.  The 
sociological  importance  of  instruction  in  handwork. 
Instruction  in  handwork  as  a  means  toward  educa- 
tion in  general. 


Chapter  H. — Instruction  in  Handwork  in 
the  History  of  Pedagogy  and  in  the 
Light  of  Modern  Pedagogical  Tenden- 
cies         32 

Comemius,  Rousseau,  the  Philanthropists,  Pesta- 
lozzi, the  School  of  Herbart,  Fröbel,  and  others.  The 
modern  movement  toward  instruction  in  work: 
Biedermann,  Clauson  Kaas,  von  SchenckendorflF  and 
the  German  Society  for  Handwork  for  Boys.  The 
movement  toward  instruction  in  work  in  the  north- 
ern lands,  in  France,  England,  and  other  countries, 
especially  in  North  America.  The  psychologic- 
pedagogic,  the  sociologic-pedagogic,  and  the  art- 
pedagogic  tendency  of  our  time  and  their  influence 
in  instruction  in  work. 


g  HANDWORK  INSTRUCTION  FOR  BOYS. 

Chapter  III. — Instruction  in  Handwork  as  a 
Means  of  Education  (outside  the 
School  and  in  Institutions  of  a  Particu- 
lar Kind:  Workshops  for  Pupils,  Boys' 
Homes,  Boarding  Schools,  etc.) 72 

The  educational  momentum  in  instruction  in  hand- 
work and  the  subjects  taught  in  pupils'  workshops 
(tasks  for  preparatory  work,  work  in  pasteboard, 
wood,  and  metal,  modeling,  etc.). 

Chapter  IV. — Instruction  in  Handwork  in 
THE  School  (School  for  Defectives, 
Volksschule,  Higher  School)  and  in  the 
Seminar  for  Teachers 88 


The  significance  of  instruction  in  handwork  in 
sound  pedagogy.  Attempts  to  include  instruction  in 
handwork  in  the  course  of  the  Volksschule  (Hertel, 
Springer,  Brückmann,  Kumpa,  Scherer).  Dexterity 
of  the  hand  in  the  service  of  instruction  in  the  nat- 
ural sciences  in  the  higher  schools  and  in  the  sys- 
tematic training  of  the  normal  school. 

Chapter  V. — Systems  and  Practical  Carrying 
out  of  Instruction  in  Handwork  in  Dif- 
ferent Countries  (Swedish  Sloyd,  In- 
struction in  Handwork  in  France,  Eng- 
land, North  America,  and  Japan) 112 

System  and  method  of  Swedish  sloyd  and  of  the 
French  instruction  in  handwork.  Hand  and  eye 
training  and  manual  training  in  English  and  Amer- 
ican schools.  Instruction  in  handwork  in  the  educa- 
rional  exhibits  in  Paris,  1900,  and  St.  Louis,  1904. 


LIST  OF  PLATES. 

I.     Boys   at   Woodwork   in   the   Teachers'   Training   School 
at  Leipsic. 

II.     Models  for  Benchwork  in  Planing  and  Carving,  Teach- 
ers' Training  School,  Leipsic. 

III.  Modeling,  Teachers'  Training  School,  Leipsic. 

IV.  Workroom  in  School  of  Handwork,  Hildesheim. 

V.     Feeble-Minded    Pupils    at    Handwork,    Institution    for 
Feeble-Minded   at  Potsdam. 

VI.     Class  in  Sloyd  at  Gothenburg,  Sweden. 

VII.     Class  in  Sloyd  at  Frederikshavn,  Denmark. 

VIII.     Manual  Training  Center  in  Glasgow,   Scotland. 

IX.     Class  in   Sloyd  in   an  Elementary  School  in  Aberdeen, 
Scotland. 

X.     Chestnut  Street  School  Shop,  Springfield,  Massachusetts. 

XI.     Tabourets    and    Plate-racks    designed    in    Grade    VIII, 
Springfield,   Massachusetts. 


INTRODUCTION. 

The  origin  of  the  following  work  goes  back  to  six  lec- 
tures which,  in  compliance  with  an  invitation  from  Profes- 
sor Rein  of  Jena,  were  delivered  before  the  summer  school 
there  in  August,  1906. 

I  have  consented  with  greater  willingness  to  let  these 
lectures  appear  in  enlarged  form  because  I  am  convinced 
that  the  question  of  instruction  in  handw^ork  for  boys  is 
one  of  the  most  important  problems  which  is  under  dis- 
cussion at  the  present  time.  It  lays  claim  to  a  universal 
interest,  for  to  handwork,  so  often  discussed  with  great 
vehemence,  more  than  to  any  other  branch  of  education, 
can  the  word  of  the  poet  Schiller  be  applied,  Von  der 
Parteien  Gunst  und  Hass  verwirrt  schwankt  ihr  Charak- 
terbild in  der  Geschichte.  (Confused  by  the  favor  and 
hatred  of  parties,  its  image  changes  in  history.) 

In  reality  it  concerns  not  simply  a  new  branch  of  in- 
struction, but  a  deep-rooted  principle  of  our  whole  educa- 
tional sj'stem.  Therefore  something  further  must  be 
brought  out  if  one  is  fully  to  comprehend  handwork  in 
its  significance  for  education.  The  superficial  way  in 
which  this  question  is  frequently  treated  in  meetings  and 
by  the  press  can  lead  to  nothing  but  a  war  of  words,  at 
the  end  of  which  neither  opponent  convinces  the  other.  To 
avoid  the  possibility  of  falling  into  this  error,  it  has  been 
necessary  to  bring  together  material  from  different  fields 
of  knowledge  in  a  comprehensive  and  yet  condensed  form 
in  order  to  establish  the  necessity  of  instruction  in  hand- 
work. 

11 


12  HANDWORK  INSTRUCTION  FOR  BOYS. 

The  history  of  civilization  teaches  that  the  saying  Wis- 
sen ist  Macht^  (knowledge  is  power)  does  not  stand  with- 
out modification.  Knowledge  in  itself  is  not  power,  but 
it  becomes  power  in  the  service  of  the  will  and  understand- 
ing. 

This  acknowledgement  is  decisive  in  the  examination  of 
our  present  day  education,  and  the  discussion  of  the  prob- 
lems of  education  from  this  point  of  view  leads  us,  as  a 
matter  of  course,  to  the  necessity  of  turning  our  attention 
also  to  other  civilized  countries.  Scarcely  a  phase  of  in- 
tellectual life  reflects  the  national  character  of  a  people  so 
clearly  as  that  of  education ! 

The  studies  of  school  matters  and  systems  of  education 
which  the  author  has  had  the  opportunity  to  make  in  dif- 
ferent European  countries,  and  in  North  America,  have 
contributed  essentially  to  develop  fundamental  doctrines 
which  are  expressed  in  the  book  here  presented.  He 
who  believes  with  the  author  that  the  kind  of  education 
given  determines  essentially  what  will  result  from  the 
youth  of  a  people  in  the  future  and  how  they  will  stand  the 
test  in  the  conflict  of  the  ruling  civilized  peoples,  will  also 
admit  that  we  must  go  back  to  the  fundamental  problems 
of  our  education  and  to  the  foundations  of  our  civilization 
if  we  wish  to  secure  a  clear  judgment  in  such  a  deep-rooted 
question  as  that  of  instruction  in  handwork  for  boys. 

From  this  point  of  view  the  author  would  like  to  have 
the  following  work  regarded  as  a  contribution  toward  the 
solution  of  an  important  problem  of  education- 

A.  Pabst. 

Leipsic,  Nov.,  1906. 

1  Saint  Chamberlain,  Die  Grundlagen  des  XIX  Jahrhunderts 
(Foundations  of  the   Nineteenth  Century). 


CHAPTER  I. 

Instruction  in  Handwork  Based  Upon  the  History 
OF  Civilization   (Sociological  and  Technologi- 
cal), upon  Psychology,  and  Upon  the 
Demands  of  Teaching. 

Aristotle  calls  the  human  hand  the  "tool  of  tools,"  and 
it  is  really  that  in  a  threefold  sense.  In  the  first  place,  it 
is  the  natural  tool  given  to  man  at  birth ;  then  it  serves  as 
a  pattern  for  the  artificially  formed  mechanical  tools;  and 
finally  the  construction  of  the  latter,  which  are  commonly 
called  "hand  tools,"  depends  primarily  upon  its  activity. 

On  account  of  its  formation,  by  which  it  is  wonderfully 
fitted  for  the  most  varied  functions,  the  hand  furnishes 
the  model  for  all  artificial  tools.  All  the  tools  which 
were  made  by  primitive  man  are  evidently  planned  with 
the  intention  of  reinforcing  the  activities  practiced  by  the 
hand,  and  assume  the  form  of  a  perfected  human  hand. 

The  stone  with  a  wooden  handle,  for  example,  is  the 
simplest  artificial  imitation  of  the  forearm  with  the  fist 
clenched,  and  a,ll  hammers  and  axes  can  be  traced  back  to 
this  fundamental  form.  The  same  form  has  remained 
almost  unchanged  even  to  the  present  time  in  the  ham- 
mers of  smiths  and  miners.  Even  the  gigantic  steam  ham- 
mer still  shows  this  fundamental  form ;  and  however  great 
the  contrast  may  be  between  this  mighty  tool  of  modern 
technique  and  the  stone  hammer  of  remote  antiquity,  yet 
there  exists,  without  doubt,  a  certain  connection  between 

13 


14  HANDWORK  INSTRUCTION  FOR  BOYS. 

the  lines  of  thought  of  the  designer  of  the  steam  hammer 
and  those  of  the  primitive  man  who  used  the  first  stone 
hammer. 

The  hammer  experienced  an  important  transformation 
when  it  was  changed  into  the  hatchet  and  ax  by  the  for- 
mation of  an  edge;  thereby  not  only  its  utility  as  a  tool 
was  increased,  but  its  effectiveness  for  the  purpose  of  de- 
fense as  well.  The  incisors  have  evidently  furnished  the 
pattern  for  this  transformation ;  in  the  same  way  the  simple 
row  of  teeth  on  the  file  and  saw  are  designed,  while  the 
hand  in  the  act  of  grasping  something  and  the  teeth  of  the 
upper  and  lower  jaws  are  copied  in  the  head  of  the  nip- 
pers and  the  jaws  of  the  vise-  In  a  similar  way  the 
knife  and  chisel  point  back  to  the  incisor,  and  the  gimlet 
to  the  extended  index  finger  with  the  sharp  nail.  Ham- 
mer, hatchet,  saw,  pliers,  knife,  chisel  and  gimlet  repre- 
sent primitive  tools,  the  invention  and  use  of  which  mark- 
ed the  first  step  in  a  broader  advancement  of  civilization 
for  the  primitive  man,  as  we  observe  this  even  to-day  in 
races  which  stopped  at  a  lower  stage  of  civilization- 

The  value  of  tools  increased  naturally  with  the  use  of 
different  materials  (wood,  horn,  bone,  shells,  stones  of 
different  degrees  of  hardness,  and  metal)  which  gave  the 
tool  greater  strength  and  made  possible  a  form  better 
adapted  to  its  purpose.  Concerning  these  stages  of  de- 
velopment the  history  of  primitive  ages  gives  us  informa- 
tion which  teaches  us  that  the  iron  age  followed  the  stone 
and  bronze  ages,  while  the  success  of  modern  technics 
could  be  attained  only  through  the  use  of  the  hardest  steel. 
In  the  improvement  of  tools  there  have  been  only  gradual 
changes,  for  the  steam  hammer  in  its  fundamental  form 
is  just  as  much  a  hammer  as  one  of  stone,  and  in  the  same 


BASES  OF  EDUCATIONAL  HANDWORK.  15 

y  we  may  trace  numerous  other  tools  and  implements 

:k:  to  certain  fundamental  forms  which  are  suggested 

the  natural  tools  of  man — the  hand,  arm,  and  teeth. 

e  cup  goes  back  to  the  hollow  hand  out  of  which  we 

nk;  the  hook  finds  its  origin  in  the  bent  finger;  the 

ce  is  a  prolongation  of  the  arm,  the  strength  of  which 

ncreased;  and  so  it  is  with  many  other  weapons  and 

ruments  which  are  used  in  the  hunt,  in  catching  fish, 

agriculture,  and  in  the  working  up  of  raw  materials. 

the  improvement  of  all  these  tools,  which  in  their 

;inal   forms  are  primitive  and   incomplete,   it  was  of 

It  advantage  that  nature  herself  furnished  in  part  the 

able  materials  (thorns,  teeth,  and  pieces  of  bone  from 

aals,  fire  stones,  etc.)  and  that  through  the  use  of  fire 

hardening,  hollowing  out,  sharpening  and  polishing  of 

s  materials  were  made  possible. 

'hese  examples  drawn  from  an  inexhaustible  supply  of 
;rial  may  suffice  to  show  the  origin  of  the  first  tools 
their  significance  in  the  further  development  of  civili- 
in ;  at  any  rate  they  give  us  some  idea  of  the  truth  and 
ling  of  the  assertion  of  Edm.und  Reitlinger  that  "the 
e  history  of  man,  if  examined  carefully,  finally  re- 
itseff  in  the  hii,\.u[j  c?/  d.c  invention  of  better  tools." 
In  a  similar  way  the  machines  and  technical  aids  of  our 
highly  developed  industry  can    be  traced  back  to  simple 
fundam.ental  forms.     The  steam  flour  mill,  for  example, 
and  the  primitive  flour  mill  of  the  first  people  are  con- 
trivances for  grinding  which  'liave  in  common,  as  their  es- 
sential   element,    the   millstor^e    which    furnishes   a   more 
effective  substitute  for  the  molkr  teeth. 

The  tool  constantly  serves  the  pu'rpose  of  giving  to  man 
a  greater  mastery  over  nature  and  her  products.    Through 


16  HANDWORK  INSTRUCTION  FOR  BOYS. 

the  use  of  mechanical  tools  this  mastery  is  remarkably  in- 
creased and  strengthened.  Even  the  scientific  instruments 
and  apparatus  are  nothing  but  improved  and  refined  tools, 
which  are  especially  constructed  to  secure  for  us  a  more 
complete  knowledge  of  the  natural  bodies  and  the  powers 
of  nature  than  would  be  possible  for  us  with  our  senses 
alone.  Just  as  the  ordinary  tools  assist  the  hand,  so  the 
microscope  and  the  telescope  assist  the  eye,  the  telephone 
the  ear,  and  the  telegraph  makes  possible  communication 
at  great  distance  without  change  of  place. 

So  man  has  gradually  risen  by  means  of  the  perfection 
oi  tools  to  higher  stages  of  culture;  he  can  rightly  be  re- 
garded as  the  tool-using  creature  and  in  this  respect  is 
distinguished  from  all  other  creatures.  But  since  the  dis- 
covery and  improvement  of  tools  depends  not  alone  upon 
intellectual  activity,  which,  to  be  sure,  cannot  be  spared, 
a  further  development  of  the  hand  must  take  place  along 
with  the  perfection  of  the  tools.  The  improved  tool  de- 
mands a  more  skillful  hand,  and  in  the  same  measure  as 
the  tool  of  the  present  diflEers  from  that  of  primitive  times, 
the  skill  of  our  hand  differs  from  that  of  the  hand  of  the 
primitive  man. 

By  the  use  of  the  tool  the  b.ao.d  '\^  ViQ-*l  ov.V^  tiained,  but 
it  is  protected  as  well.  It  is  saved  from  coming  in  direct 
contact  v^ith  hard  material  and  has  thus  attained  a  greater 
delicacy,  sensitiveness,  rxnd  flexibility.  Thus  in  mutual 
reaction  the  tool  has  aided  the  development  of  the  natural 
organ.  This  in  turn,  after  attaining  a  higher  stage  of 
skill,  has  brought  about  thf_"  perfection  and  development  of 
the  tool,  and  both  factor^o  have  increased  in  power  mutu- 
ally until  they  have  reached  the  highest  attainments  pos- 
sible, as  exemplified  in  the  handwork  and  in  the  tool  of 


BASES  OF  EDUCATIONAL  HANDWORK.  17 

the  operator,  artist,  or  skilled  mechanic-  The  latter,  for 
example,  who  has  to  work  with  the  finest  instruments  for 
measuring,  can  develop  his  hand  into  such  a  fine  tool,  that, 
in  the  testing  and  fitting  of  the  draw  tube  of  the  microscope 
into  its  sheath,  it  can  distinguish  dififerences  which  cannot 
be  measured  by  any  tool. 

The  statement  that  the  improved  tool  demands  also  an 
improved  hand  is  clear  without  further  explanation ;  its 
application  to  machine  w^ork  may  not  be  quite  so  self-evi- 
dent in  current  opinion.  Indeed,  many  are  of  the  opinion 
that  the  machine  which  saves  man  from  rough  work  and 
which  performs  even  finer  tasks  with  a  precision  which  is 
not  possible  for  the  hand,  especially  in  large  quantities, 
makes  a  further  development  of  the  hand  unnecessary, 
while  it  turns  over  to  it  only  the  work  of  assistance  and 
takes  from  it,  on  the  other  hand,  the  real  execution  of  the 
work.  However,  this  conception  is  not  correct,  for  a 
more  careful  examination  shows  that  progress  is  possible 
in  the  use  of  machines  only  when  it  is  united  with  a  cor- 
responding progress  in  the  development  of  the  people  who 
use  the  machine.  The  uneducated  workman,  for  example, 
who  can  use  a  simple  agricultural  instrument  well  would 
utterly  fail  in  the  use  of  the  complicated  machines  of 
mechanical  weaving.  The  more  complicated  the  machine 
becomes,  the  better  must  be  the  training  of  the  hand  which 
u^es  it,  and  such  a  training  of  the  hand  is  necessarily  linked 
with  greater  executive  power  of  the  brain.  When  the 
fingers  must  work  so  accurately  that  they  deal  with  differ- 
ences of  millimetres,  such  exactness  is  impossible  without 
a  corresponding  training  of  the  eye,  and  trained  intellec- 
tual ability, — in  other  words,  a  higher  executive  power  of 
the  brain., 


18  HANDWORK  INSTRUCTION  FOR  BOYS. 

With  reference  to  the  use  of  scientific  apparatus  and  of 
fine  instruments  for  measuring,  this  is  quite  obvious;  it 
applies,  however,  to  every  kind  of  mechanical  and  techni- 
cal work  as  well.  Nature  has  also  provided  that  it  should 
not  be  possible  for  a  person  to  receive  a  wholly  one-sided 
development  for  a  particular  service ;  if  a  particular  service 
of  the  eye  or  hand  is  required  from  a  person,  the  entire 
man  must  be  developed  to  a  certain  power  of  achievement. 
Just  as  it  is  impossible  to  bring  any  particular  part  of  a 
machine  to  perfection  and  develop  in  it  great  power  of 
execution  at  the  expense  of  the  other  parts  which  are  left 
in  their  primitive  form,  there  are  also  certain  fundamental 
limitations  in  the  development  of  the  power  of  execution 
in  single  organs  of  man  on  account  of  their  relation  to 
other  organs  and  their  dependence  upon  them. 

The  preceding  statements  lead  up  to  a  discussion  of  the 
physiological  -  psychological  principles  of  instruction  in 
handwork  with  reference  to  the  facts  given  in  the  preced- 
ing pages.  As  far  as  universal  experience  goes,  the  control 
of  the  groups  of  large  muscles  is  easy.  On  the  other  hand 
the  finer  and  finest  perceptions  of  touch  and  motion  of  the 
arm,  the  hand,  and  especially  the  fingers  are  learned  only 
with  great  pains.  For  example,  it  demands  less  skill  to 
handle  the  ax  and  split  wood  with  the  exertion  of  all  the 
hand  and  arm  muscles  than  to  take  hold  of  a  pen  with 
three  fingers  and  write  with  it.  In  his  first  attempt  at 
writing,  the  child  uses  almost  all  the  muscles  of  his  whole 
body;  and  even  among  grown  people  we  frequently  notice 
that  a  movement  of  the  muscles  of  the  face  accompanies 
the  motion  of  the  hand  in  writing.  What  we  call  rough 
work  calls  into  activity  the  groups  of  large  muscles  with 
their  coarser  adjustment,  while  the  finer  work  exercises 


BASES  OF  EDUCATIONAL  HANDWORK.  19 

groups  of  small  muscles  with  their  more  delicate  adjust- 
ment. Therefore,  the  rougher  work  develops  only  a  few 
of  the  crude  motor  functions,  while  the  finer  work  devel- 
ops the  more  exact  motor  functions  and  requires  a  finer 
adaptation  of  the  movements  of  the  muscles.  This  latter 
alone  is  educative,  while  the  hardest  kinds  of  handwork 
dull  the  motor  perceptions.  Not  the  ax  and  crow-bar,  but 
the  light  hammer,  saw,  plane,  chisel,  knife,  and  scissors 
are  the  tools  which  ought  to  be  used  in  the  school  for  hand- 
work- Hence  it  is  also  clear  that  the  instruction  in  gym- 
nastic activities  does  not  suffice  for  the  development  of  the 
motor  perceptions,  but  their  value  in  other  respects  is  not 
affected  by  this  fact. 

The  investigation  into  the  development  of  the  child  has 
taught  us  that  the  training  of  the  motor  perceptions  must 
begin  early,  for  the  brain  centers  which  control  the  move- 
ments of  the  muscles  of  the  hand  develop  early  (according 
to  Preyer  the  motions  of  grasp  of  the  child  can  be  clearly 
recognized  in  the  seventeenth  week).  If  the  training  is 
started  at  the  right  time,  the  m.ovements  of  the  muscles  can 
attain  a  certain  stage  of  perfection  which  is  not  possible  if 
begun  at  a  later  period  in  life.  For  among  grown  people 
the  paths  of  execution  are  already  carved  out  to  such  an 
extent  in  definite  directions,  and  the  cells  of  ganglion  are 
so  far  developed,  that  a  perfection  of  the  motor  paths  is 
scarcely  possible  any  longer. 

The  practical  conclusion  resulting  from  these  statements 
of  psychological  research  must  be  that  instruction  in  hand- 
work should  not  begin  too  late.  As  experience  has  long 
taught,  it  is  best  joined  with  the  play  of  the  children  be- 
fore the  school  period  and  in  the  first  school  years;  and  in 
general  it  ought  to  be  pursued  as  the  chief  thing  in  the 


20  HANDWORK  INSTRUCTION  FOR  BOYS. 

period  from  the  eighth  to  the  sixteenth  year.  By  postpon- 
ing systematic  school  exercises  for  the  development  of  the 
motor  perceptions,  the  best  time  is  lost  and  the  result  be- 
comes thereby  questionable. 

To  be  sure  we  must  not  fall  into  the  opposite  mistake 
and  have  the  finer  exercises,  especially  those  of  the  fingers, 
commence  too  soon.  Even  here  a  carefully  graded  ar- 
rangement is  indispensable;  the  universal,  methodical 
maxim,  "From  the  easy  to  the  difficult,"  when  applied 
particularly  to  the  motor  exercises,  would  be  stated: 
"From  the  larger  to  the  finer." 

It  is  very  plain  that  in  this  we  are  only  following  the 
law  of  development,  which  the  course  of  human  history 
also  recognizes,  and  which  we  may  therefore  apply  with- 
out hesitancy  in  this  case. 

In  closing  this  line  of  thought,  if  we  look  over  the 
entire  cultural-technical  development  from  the  first 
crude  tools  to  the  system  of  the  most  highly  developed 
technique  of  the  present,  two  principal  points  of  view  are 
clearly  to  be  seen:  first,  the  tool  is  the  only,  and  there- 
fore, an  indispensable  means  of  raising  the  activity  of  our 
minds  to  refinement  and  strength.  Therefore  the  tool 
alone  affords  us  the  means  of  gaining  the  first  knowledge 
or  our  surroundings,  especially  of  the  products  of  nature; 
and  upon  it  depends  all  further  development  in  turning 
the  products  of  nature  to  account  in  advancing  human 
civilization.  Moreover  the  tool  stands  as  a  result  of  the 
activity  of  the  brain  and  hand  in  such  vital  relationship 
to  the  man  himself  that  he  sees  in  the  creation  of  his  hand 
a  part  of  his  own  being — his  world  of  perception  embodied 
ir  material  revealed  before  his  eyes.  Also  in  the  animal 
world  we  find  valuable  technical  means  for  furthering  the 


BASES  OF  EDUCATIONAL  HANDWORK.  21 

purposes  of  existence ;  it  may  be  observed  even  in  the  nests, 
webs,  and  buildings  of  many  animals.  As  is  well  known 
division  of  labor  is  also  practiced  among  many  animals  in 
a  tolerably  perfect  manner.  "But  only  among  men  does 
Nature  use  the  tool  as  the  most  important  contrivance  for 
the  preservation  and  perfection  of  organisms.  The  tool 
is  a  higher  development,  which  is  mechanically  free  from 
organism,  but  biologically  belongs  to  organism,  as  the  shell 
to  the  moUusk  and  the  house  to  the  snail.  The  sociolo- 
gist lays  stress  upon  the  fact  that  man  creates  the  tool  ac- 
cording to  his  plans  for  his  own  purposes;  the  biologist 
sees  in  this  planning  and  creating  an  action  of  the  brain, 
and  at  the  same  time  a  function  of  the  body.  That  the 
material  of  the  tool  is  matter  supplied  from  outside,  is  sec- 
ondary." 

This  thought  has  already  been  uttered  by  Herbert 
Spencer  in  a  clear  manner-  Spencer  says  that  every  in- 
strument of  observation  (for  example  the  telescope,  micro- 
scope, thermometer,  scales)  is  only  an  artificial  expansion 
of  our  senses,  while  the  tools  and  machines,  if  it  is  desir- 
able to  distinguish  these  from  apparatus  and  instruments, 
constitute  an  artificial  development  of  our  limbs.  Otto 
Wiener  developed  further  this  thought  in  his  academic 
inaugural  address,  Die  Erweiterung  unserer  Sinne  (The 
Expansion  of  our  Senses,  Leipsic,  1900),  and  has  shown 
especially  that  even  the  most  perfect  tools  never  have  a 
significance  for  themselves  alone,  therefore  are  never  en- 
tirely independent  of  the  organism  of  man.  The  most 
powerful  telescope  has  no  value  unless  it  is  united  with  an 
optical  nerve  into  a  unified  apparatus  for  photographing 
the  picture.  In  this,  the  optical  nerve  may,  as  far  as  it  is 
concerned,  stand  still,  or  even  retrograde,  without  harm  to 


22  HANDWORK  INSTRUCTION  FOR  BOYS. 

the  individual,  if  the  function  arising  out  of  the  coopera- 
tion of  the  nerve  and  the  telescope,  only  continues  in  a 
constant  development.  He  continues,  "It  is  therefore  a 
wholly  unbiological  thought  to  regard  human  culture  as 
if  it  were  a  departure  from  the  natural  waj's  of  develop- 
ment, and  as  if  we  therefore  obeyed  the  dictates  of  biology 
better  by  destroying  human  culture  with  its  customary 
division  of  labor  and  its  development  of  tools." 

And  so  this  line  of  thought  also  leads  to  the  statement 
given  above,  which  might  be  the  central  idea  of  all  such 
discussions,  "that  the  entire  history  of  civilization  finally 
reveals  itself  in  the  history  of  the  invention  of  better 
tools." 

The  extraordinary  significance  of  the  activity  of  the 
tool-perfected  hand,  in  intellectual  development  is  shown 
clearly  in  another  direction,  namely  in  the  development 
of  the  language.  According  to  the  modern  view,  lan- 
guage has  risen  in  and  through  work,  and  its  develop- 
m.ent  depends  most  intimately  upon  the  unequal  develop- 
ment of  both  hands  of  the  person.  In  ninety-eight  per 
cent  of  people  the  right  hand  has  to  perform  the  greater 
part  of  all  work  and  must  always  especially  protect  the 
left  hand  when  greater  demands  are  made  upon  the 
strength  and  skill.  Only  in  the  decreasing  minority  of 
people,  scarcely  two  in  every  hundred,  does  the  left  hand 
assume  the  functions  of  the  right,  and  it  is  noticeable  that 
in  these  cases  all  attempts  at  training  to  bring  the  right 
hand  to  its  favored  place  are  in  vain ;  the  individual  con- 
cerned is  and  remains  left-handed. 

Even  the  pedagogical  attempts,  which  are  thoroughly 
justifiable,  up  to  a  certain  extent,  to  develop  the  left  hand 
through  careful  training  (Liberty  Tadd)  will  not  change 


BASES  OF  EDUCATIONAL  HANDWORK.  23 

the  natural  preference  for  the  right  hand.  The  inequal- 
ity in  the  hands  of  people  has  deep-rooted  reasons  which 
ma}'  be  considered  as  historical  In  development.  Accord- 
ing to  the  more  recent  psychology,  the  right-handedness 
of  people,  as  well  as  everything  which  has  to  do  with  the 
spoken  language,  has  its  will  center  in  the  left  half  of  the 
brain.  This  circumstance  causes  the  supposition  that  a 
close  relation  exists  between  right-handedness  and  the  de- 
velopment of  the  spoken  language,  a  supposition  which  is 
thoroughly  confirmed  by  the  practical  observations  of  the 
connection  between  speech  and  movements  of  the  hand, 
and  for  which  certain  cases  of  diseases  of  the  organs  of 
speech  also  give  further  proof.  In  such  cases,  medical 
therapeutics  makes  use  of  certain  exercises  of  the  right  arm 
in  order  to  heal  diseases  of  speech;  and  systematic  instruc- 
tion to  develop  the  dexterity  of  the  hand  both  in  schools 
for  the  feeble  minded  and  in  institutions  for  idiots  is  offer- 
ed with  the  same  purpose.  (This  is  excellently  organized 
in  the  institutions  at  Potsdam,  directed  by  Dr.  Kluge;  cf. 
Dr.  K.  Hopf:  Der  systematische  Handfertigkeitsunter- 
richt, ein  Glied  ärztlicher  Therapie  in  Idiotenanstalten 
(Systematic  Instruction  in  Handwork,  One  Phase  of 
Medical  Therapeutics  in  Institutions  for  the  Feeble 
Minded),  in  the  Psychiatrisch-Neurologischen  Wochen- 
schrift (Weekly  Magazine  for  Psychiatric  Neurology), 
and  published  in  the  Blätter  für  Knabenhandarbeit  (Mag- 
azine of  Boys'  Handwork,  November  8,  1904.)  Exer- 
cises in  movements  of  the  right  arm  are  well  known  as 
one  of  the  remedies  in  the  treatment  of  stuttering  and 
other  defects  in  speech,  while  corresponding  exercises  of 
the  left  arm  can  sometimes  be  used  successfully  with 
children,  who,  through  the  destruction  of  the  center  of 


24  HANDWORK  INSTRUCTION  FOR  BOYS. 

speech  in  the  left  half  of  the  brain  have  lost  the  power  of 
speech.  By  this  means  the  establishment  of  a  center  of 
speech  in  the  right  half  of  the  brain  is  brought  about. 

It  is  not  possible  here  to  go  into  detail'  in  these  difficult 
questions,  which  arc  not  even  wholly  cleared  up  by  re- 
search; but  this  much  is  in  any  case  certain,  that  systematic 
training  and  education  in  dexterity  of  the  hand  must  be 
demanded  even  in  the  interest  of  the  development  of 
speech.  Each  individual  movement  of  the  hand  has  its 
effect  on  the  brain ;  indeed  it  must  be  said  plainly  that 
dexterity  of  the  hand  does  not  have  its  seat  in  the  hand  at 
all  but  in  the  head  and  brain.  Consequently,  handwork 
is  without  doubt  a  kind  of  intellectual  training,  and  the 
hand  is  a  sixth  sense,  a  way  which  leads  directly  to  the 
brain.  The  customary  distinction  between  "head  work" 
and  "handwork"  rests  upon  a  fundamental  error !  There 
is  no  kind  of  handwork  which  does  not  require  at  the  same 
time  more  or  less  brain  work,  and  "the  man  who  works 
energetically  and  artistically  with  his  hands,  as  well  as  the 
philosopher,  must  possess  a  good  head."  Firmly  rooted 
laziness  is  inseparably  connected  with  stupidity  and  dull- 
ness. 

These  suggestions,  how'cver  imperfect  they  may  be  in 
themselves,  must  here  suffice  to  establish  the  assertion  that 
the  eilfects  of  a  good  course  in  handwork,  even  from  a 
psychological  point  of  view,  are  entirely  unmistakable. 
Therefore  we  can,  without  further  ceremony,  apply  the 
words  of  Demoor  concerning  the  significance  of  handwork 
in  the  education  of  abnormal  children  to  education  in  gen- 
eral :  "Handwork  arouses  the  initiative,  sets  in  motion  the 
essential  activities  of  the  rtiind,  attention  and  luill,  arid  re- 
quires a  correct  expression  of  the  will.     Thus  it  is  an  im- 


BASES  OF  EDUCATIONAL  HANDWORK.  25 . 

portant  tool  for  the  development  of  the  intelligence  and 
.     the  permanent  retention  of  knowledge  in  the  brain." 

^But  the  fact  should  not  be  overlooked  that  instruction 
in  handwork  can  contribute  very  essentially  to  the  forma- 
tion of  character  in  a  moral  sense.  The  idea  correspond- 
ing to  the  Bible  utterance  that  work  is  a  necessary  evil  for 
mankind,  "In  the  sweat  of  thy  face  shalt  thou  eat  thy 
bread,"  must,  as  a  matter  of  course,  be  given  up  at  the 
outset.  It  certainly  does  not  apply  to  our  children,  for 
work,  especially  physical  labor,  is  for  them  a  benefit  and  a 
relief  from  sitting  still;  it  is  the  most  urgent  need  of  na- 
ture for  the  purpose  of  physical  and  intellectual  develop- 
ment and  at  the  same  time  an  activity  giving  positive  pleas- 
ure. And  that  is  true  not  only  of  children,  but  of  grown 
people  since  primitive  times,  and  it  is  also  voiced  in  a  pas- 
sage from  the  Bible  v/hich  we  might  place  over  against  the 
one  previously  quoted,  namely,  that  our  life  becomes 
rich  through  trouble  and  work.  Goethe  says,  "Tages 
Arbeit,  Abends  Gäste,  saure  Wochen,  frohe  Feste." 
(Guests  by  night  and  toil  by  day;  weeks  laborious,  feast 
days  gay! — Translated  by  E.  A.  Bowring.) 

First  of  all,  the  play  of  children  is  for  them  serious 
work.  The  child  is  never  more  industrious  than  when  he 
pla3's,  and  since  something  definite  must  be  accomplished  in 
the  play,  he  learns  through  play  how  to  work.  But  an 
essential  difference  still  remains:  play  is  voluntary,  work 
is  required,  and  "so  through  work  we  learn  obedience,  the 
most  sterling  virtue  of  children,  better  than  in  any  other 
way."  (Ziegler,  Allegemeine  Pädagogik,  General  Peda- 
gogy, page  26.) 

But  it  is  false  from  a  pedagogical  point  of  view  to  de- 
mand of  the  child  only  so-called  head  work,  the  regular 


26  HANDWORK  INSTRUCTION  FOR  BOYS. 

learning  of  the  school.  This  is,  for  the  first  school  years 
especially,  a  truly  bitter  food  which  the  child  would  not 
take  of  his  own  accord.  On  the  other  hand  with  well- 
directed  and  selected  activities  for  the  hand,  he  immedi- 
ately becomes  unwearying  in  his  zeal;  it  is  a  well-known 
experience  which  can  be  encountered  daily  in  carefully 
directed  courses  in  handwork,  that  one  finds  there  scarcely 
any  children  who  are  not  industrious,  attentive,  and  will- 
ing. 

Instruction  in  handwork  shows  its  significance  for  edu- 
cation in  still  another  respect.  From  the  false  distinction 
between  head  work  and  handwork,  the  dangerous  contrast 
has  arisen  between  head  workers  and  handworkers,  and 
along  with  that,  the  lack  of  respect  with  which  almost 
every  representative  of  either  of  these  callings  regards  the 
other.  This  disrespect  with  which  handwork  has  been  re- 
garded since  classic  antiquity,  has  resulted  in  a  similar  one- 
sidedness  within  itself ;  and  from  this  the  mutually  false 
estimate  of  the  different  callings  and  the  social  gulf  \\  hich 
separates  them  have,  for  the  most  part,  arisen.  "On  this 
account  it  is  a  welcome  thought  that  the  idea  is  of  late  con- 
stantly gaining  new  ground,  that  even  our  young  people 
who  pursue  Latin  courses  are  to  learn  and  carry  on  hand- 
work." (Ziegler,  Allgemeine  Pädagogik,  page  27.) 
When  the  youth  understands  that  it  is  just  as  difficult  to 
acquire  skill  in  an  artistic  piece  of  handwork  as  to  gain 
knowledge  in  mathematics  or  in  a  language,  then  respect 
for  the  work  of  the  hand,  and,  moreover,  for  work  itself, 
will  grow  up  as  a  matter  of  course.  It  is  by  no  means 
accidental  that  instruction  in  handwork  enjoys  an  especi- 
ally high  esteem  in  America;  indeed  this  fact  stands  in 
closest  connection  with  the  characteristic  feature  of  Ameri- 


BASES  OF  EDUCATIONAL  HANDWORK.  27 

can  popular  opinion,  which  values  in  a  person  strength  of 
will  and  cheerfulness  in  work  above  everything  else. 
Scorn  for  physical  labor  is  the  surest  and  most  unmistak- 
able sign  of  lack  of  cultivation  of  every  kind-"  (C. 
Götze,  Die  Pädagogik  der  Tat."    Pedagogy  of  Action.) 

The  high  social  significance  of  instruction  in  handwork, 
which  Rousseau  and  Pestalozzi  clearly  recognized  and  em- 
phatically expressed,  is  constantly  receiving  more  stress  of 
late,  and  rightly  so.  Especially  worthy  of  attention  are 
the  words  of  Jules  Ferry,  former  Minister  of  Public  In- 
struction, who  brought  about  the  passage  of  the  French 
school  law  of  1883,  and  at  that  time  expressed  himself  con- 
cerning instruction  in  handwork. 

Among  other  things  he  said :  "In  order  that  the  nobility 
of  handwork  should  be  recognized  not  only  by  those  who 
practice  it,  but  also  by  society  as  a  whole,  the  surest,  the 
only  practical  method  has  been  chosen:  namely,  the  intro- 
duction of  handwork  into  the  school  itself.  When  the 
plane  and  the  file  have  received  their  place  beside  the  circle, 
the  geographical  map,  and  the  book  of  history;  when  they 
have  received  a  place  of  honor ;  and  when  they  shall  be  the 
subject  of  sensible  and  systematic  instruction;  then  many 
prejudices  will  die  out,  much  caste  spirit  will  disappear, 
and  on  the  benches  of  the  elementary  school  the  way  to 
social  peace  will  be  prepared." 

The  most  prominent  men  of  different  nations  might  be 
quoted,  who  have  expressed  themselves  in  a  similar  way, 
but  it  is  sufficient  to  refer  to  the  opinions  of  Tolstoi,  who 
ici  convinced  that  "the  social  problem  will  not  really  be 
solved  until  handwork  has  again  come  into  respect,  and 
indeed  not  merely  in  theory,  but  also  in  practice ;  until  it 
is  considered  just  as  respectable  to  plane  wood  and  forge 


28  HANDWORK  INSTRUCTION  FOR  BOYS. 

iron  as  to  count  money,  to  fill  out  papers,  to  witness  sig- 
natures, to  teach  in  a  technical  college,  in  short,  to  pursue 
any  one  of  those  occupations  which  people  proudly  call 
head  work."  There  is  no  doubt  that  instruction  in  hand- 
work is  adapted  to  arouse  sympathy  for  the  working  man 
among  those  who  do  not  earn  their  livelihood  by  the  work 
of  their  hands.  The  employer,  who  has  himself  at  one  time 
taken  a  hand  in  a  workshop,  will  have  more  respect  for  his 
workmen  on  that  account  and  will  more  readily  be  inclined 
to  favor  reforms  which  serve  the  interests  of  the  working 
classes  and  social  peace.  He  will  get  a  much  deeper  under- 
standing not  only  of  the  economic  situation,  but  also  of  the 
character  and  the  general  mode  of  thinking  of  the  great 
majority  of  our  people.  Perhaps  it  is  on  account  of  this  fact 
that  in  some  of  the  ruling  houses  the  tradition  of  having 
the  growing  princes  learn  a  trade,  still  holds. 

The  social  significance  of  instruction  in  handwork  rests 
especially  upon  the  fact  that  it  gives  opportunity  for  asso- 
ciation in  work,  and  for  mutual  helpfulness  and  advance- 
ment, such  as  is  not  permitted  in  any  other  branch  of  in- 
struction. The  external  relationships  themselves  give  rise 
to  mutual  consideration  and  helpfulness ;  and  besides,  it  lies 
in  the  very  nature  of  productive  work  that  it  leads  to  asso- 
ciation and  common  interest  in  work.  The  social  differ- 
ences are  forgotten  in  zeal  for  work,  each  is  a  friend  and 
helper  of  his  fellow  workman ;  otherwise  it  would  not  be 
possible  in  the  work  of  our  school  workshops  when  the  at- 
tendance is  voluntary,  for  us  to  unite  boys  of  different 
ranks  in  society,  who  in  life  scarcely  learn  to  know  each 
other. 

Moreover,  the  relationship  of  pupil  and  teacher  becomes 
different  and  more  favorable  than  that  to  which  we  have 


BASES  OF  EDUCATIONAL  HANDWORK.  29 

been  accustomed.  The  teacher  approaches  the  boy  as  a 
friend  and  helper.  The  discipline  can  be  managed  in  a 
new  way,  for  the  children  are  of  themselves  willing  and 
zealous;  every  suggestion  and  act  of  assistance  is  received 
with  thanks,  and  if  the  teacher  understands  how  to  direct 
his  pupils  in  the  right  way,  there  is  no  need  of  scolding  or 
of  the  customary  school  punishments.  The  entire  system 
lies  chiefly  in  developing  independence  in  the  pupils  and 
in  giving  them  practice  in  perceiving  and  reflecting.  The 
more  sparing  of  words  the  teacher  of  practical  work  is, 
the  surer  will  he  attain  this  end  and  the  more  perfectly  he 
has  the  technique  of  his  work  at  his  command,  the  greater 
will  be  the  confidence  of  his  pupils  in  him.  It  is  then 
taken  as  a  matter  of  course  that  his  friendly  advice  will 
be  heeded,  and  he  will  gain  an  influence  in  the  education 
of  the  boy  which  is  far-reaching  in  the  school  and  can 
directly  and  definitely  affect  his  life.  In  this  very  respect 
instruction  in  handwork  is  one  of  the  surest  bridges  for 
connecting  school  with  life;  it  can  exert  a  special  influence 
in  the  difficult  problem  of  the  choice  of  a  life  work,  such  as 
no  other  course  in  school  can  easily  do.  In  the  first  place, 
the  practical  instruction  gives  the  school  the  opportunity  of 
learning  to  know  the  "whole  boy,"  and  many  a  boy,  who 
formerly  has  caused  the  teacher  only  trouble  and  vexation, 
becomes  agreeable  and  valuable  in  the  workshop.  But 
his  talents  are  also  recognized  better,  and  many  parents  arc 
saved  the  disappointment  which  is  inevitable,  when  the 
choice  of  a  life  work  leads  the  growing  boy  upon  the 
wrong  road.  Especially  the  tendency,  so  widespread  to- 
day, of  directing  the  rising  young  men  to  the  learned  pro- 
fessions or,  at  all  events,  to  the  middle  and  lower  official 
classes,  can  by  this  means  be  controlled  to  some  extent.   But 

3 


30  HANDWORK  INSTRUCTION  FOR  BOYS. 

let  us  finally  give  the  youth  a  free  path  and  teach  him  to 
know  that  other  ways  can  also  lead  to  fortune  and  con- 
tentment besides  the  way  through  books.  Experience  has 
long  taught,  as  Herbart  says,  that  "many  a  boy  finds  him- 
self sooner  at  handwork  than  in  school."  While  the 
model  boy  has  very  frequenty  failed  in  life,  an  efficient 
man  has  grown  out  of  many  a  child,  disappointing  from  a 
scholastic  point  of  view.  Many  prominent  men  of  prac- 
tical life  in  industry  and  science  have  been  thrust  aside  as 
useless  in  the  school  and  dismissed  as  "deficient,"  a  com- 
ment which  they  could  later  apply  with  justice  to  their 
former  teachers;  the  famous  Liebig,  the  historian  Gervi- 
nus,  Alexander  von  Humboldt,  and  many  others  are  strik- 
ing examples  of  this,  for  they  were  all  regarded  in  school 
as  people  of  limited  capacity. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  an  important  means  for  develop- 
ing the  will  can  be  seen  in  the  education  of  the  workshop. 
The  practical  Americans  have  long  recognized  this,  and 
in  their  system  of  education,  which  is  built  up  in  such  a 
striking  way  upon  the  development  of  the  will,  have 
brought  this  into  application-  The  value  of  practical 
work  in  ethical  education  can  be  directly  established  by 
psychology'.  If  psychology  teaches  that  the  will  is  a 
thought  brought  into  execution,  then  the  motor  concep- 
tions which  excite  the  muscles  to  conscious  movements,  are 
also  in  a  certain  sense  the  raw  material  out  of  which  the 
ethical  will  is  formed.  Flabby  muscles  and  a  weak  will 
can  be  traced  back  to  the  same  causes;  namely,  to  a  lack 
of  motor  activity  of  the  brain.  All  kinds  of  physical  exer- 
cises, gymnastics,  and  sport,  naturally  arranged,  contribute 
not  simply  to  develop  the  muscles,  but  also  to  make  them 
subject  to  the  purposes  of  the  will.      In  this  matter  in- 


BASES  OF  EDUCATIONAL  HANDWORK.  31 

struction  in  handwork  is  especially  effective.  As  has  al- 
ready been  shown,  all  finer  work  is  controlled  by  groups 
of  small  muscles,  and  this  limitation  also  demands  accu- 
rate control  over  all  the  muscles  which  are  not  even  used 
in  the  movement  concerned.  This  power  of  mastery  and 
the  concentration  of  attention,  which  is  connected  with 
it,  form  an  element  which  is  of  the  highest  significance  in 
the  development  of  the  ethical  will. 

While  instruction  in  handwork  affects,  moreover,  the 
eye  and  hand,  and  by  that  prepares  the  way  for  a  coopera- 
tion of  the  sensory  and  motor  parts  of  the  brain,  it  becomes 
in  still  another  respect  most  important  in  the  development 
of  the  brain  and  the  will.  It  unites  the  different  centers 
and  establishes  the  connection  between  the  sensory  parts 
on  the  one  hand  and  the  motor  on  the  other.  This  is  of 
the  greatest  significance  for  the  individual,  whose  whole 
value  depends  ultimately  upon  a  sound  and  efficient  brain. 
Clear  reason,  self-control,  stability,  equilibrium  of  charac- 
ter, strong  will,  and  wise  accommodation  of  the  thing 
wished  for  to  the  conditions  of  life  are  the  characteristics 
by  which  all  human  efficiency  is  attained.  Psychology  has 
recognized  with  perfect  clearness  the  conditions  under 
which  these  characteristics  can  develop;  when  this  knowl- 
edge has  once  gained  a  victorious  entrance  even  into  peda- 
gogy, then  the  old  motto  of  the  school  workshop  at  Leipsic 
will  become  a  motto  for  every  school  and  educational  in- 
stitution : 

Bilde  das  Auge^  übe  die  Hand! 

Fest  wird  der  Wille,  scharf  der  Verstand!  ^ 

1  Train  the  eye,  exercise  the  hand, 
Strong  will  be  the  will,  clear  the  understanding. 


CHAPTER  11. 
Instruction  in  Handwork  in  the  History  of  Peda 

GOGY  AND  in  THE  LiGHT  OF  MODERN 

Pedagogical  Tendencies. 

Even  with  Comenius  the  thought  is  found  that  the  train- 
ing of  the  hand  belongs  to  the  problems  of  education,  and 
he  places  it  among  the  "fundamental  studies,"  that  is, 
among  those  "which  comprehend  the  essence,  the  kernel 
and  real  content  of  culture."  It  is  true,  he  includes 
among  the  exercises  of  the  hand  which  he  designates  for 
the  school,  first  of  all  writing  and  painting,  but  when  he 
says  further  on  that  the  person  must  be  taught,  "to  use  the 
hands  for  work,"  and  that  "children  always  like  to  do 
something,"  then  it  is  to  be  assumed  that  he  does  not  mean 
to  limit  the  activity  of  the  hand  to  writing  and  painting. 
In  a  chapter  of  the  Mutterschule  {Inforinatorium  mater- 
niim)  he  also  says:  "The  children  like  to  build  and  put 
together  houses  of  clay,  shavings,  wood,  or  stones,  and  this 
is  the  beginning  of  the  study  of  architecture.  The  fourth, 
fifth,  and  sixth  years  will  be  full  of  problems  in  handwork, 
tor  it  is  not  good  for  the  child  always  to  sit  still.  There- 
fore he  should  be  encouraged  and  helped  in  everything 
which  he  attempts  to  do,  so  that  whatever  he  does  will 
have  some  meaning  and  will  be  useful  in  his  later  and 
greater  work."  (Cf.  also  Didactica  Magna,  Chapter  28, 
§  12,  and  Chapter  29,  §6.) 

In  a  much  clearer  way  Prof.  Erhard  Weigel  of  Jena, 
(died  1699),  who  may  be  regarded  in  a  certain  sense  al- 

32 


HISTORY  OF  EDUCATIONAL  HANDWORK.  33 

most  as  a  forerunner  of  Friedrich  Fröbel,  expresses  him- 
self concerning  the  necessity  of  exercises  for  the  hand.  The 
peculiar  inventions  which  he  introduced  into  his  "School 
cf  Virtue"  in  Jena  for  the  purpose  of  sweetening  the  learn- 
ing, may  be  mentioned  incidentally;  it  is  very  significant 
that  he  wished  the  children  to  be  instructed  to  build  with 
small  hoards  or  blocks,  to  make  figures  out  of  paper  or 
pasteboard,  to  form  models  out  of  paper  and  wood,  to  con- 
struct sundials,  to  measure  heights  and  distances,  etc.  In 
all  the?e  requirements  there  is  plainly  expressed  a  thorough 
understanding  of  the  necessity  of  activity  for  the  youth, 
as  well  as  an  appreciation  of  the  kind  of  instruction  which 
should  be  established  to  fulfill  this  need. 

From  another  point  of  view  John  Locke  demands  the 
training  of  the  hand.  It  belongs  to  the  education  of  the 
"galanthomme,"  the  perfect  gentleman.  Even  the  noble- 
man is  to  learn  a  trade  and  be  instructed  in  some  practical 
activity.  Indeed,  Locke  proposes  gardening  and  work  in 
wood,  since  these  activities  divert  the  mind  and  exercise 
the  body-  Skill  in  working  metals,  glass,  and  stones  (en- 
graving, polishing,  cutting,  etc.)  also  seems  to  him  especi- 
ally adapted  for  this  purpose,  "since  a  young  man  cannot 
alwaj's  be  occupied  with  studying,  reading  and  social  inter- 
course." All  these  activiites  he  regards  chiefly  as  a  means 
for  meeting  the  dangers  which  idleness  brings  with  it;  he 
seems  to  fail  to  understand  that  they  might  also  have  an 
educative  value  in  other  respects. 

Rousseau  goes  into  the  pedagogical  side  of  the  problem 
much  more  deeply.  In  his  Emile  he  expresses  himself  as 
being  opposed  to  all  instruction  which  is  given  in  the  form 
of  a  lecture  and  to  the  imparting  of  any  knowledge  by 


34  HANDWORK  INSTRUCTION  FOR  BOYS. 

means  of  the  word  of  the  teacher.  He  insists  that  the  pupil 
bt  required  to  make  all  the  instruments  necessary  for  his 
experiments,  and  that  he  acquire  a  knowledge  of  them  him- 
self. He  writes:  "H  I  keep  a  child  busy  in  a  workshop 
instead  of  chaining  him  to  books,  then  his  hands  work  for 
the  good  of  his  intellect.  In  order  that  the  pupil  may 
learn  the  dependence  of  people  upon  one  another,  let  the 
teacher  take  him  into  the  workshops  and  not  allow  him  to 
see  any  work  at  all  except  what  he  himself  makes.  Let 
the  teacher  keep  constantly  in  mind  that  an  hour's  work 
w  ill  teach  the  pupil  more  things  than  he  can  retain  in  his 
memory  from  a  whole  day's  explaining." 

These  utterances  show  clearly  Rousseau's  conception  of 
handwork  as  a  means  of  education,  from  which  it  can  be 
clearly  seen  that  he  emphasizes  the  significance  of  hand- 
work in  intellectual  development,  even  though  he  later 
thinks  more  of  its  importance  in  another  respect;  namely, 
with  reference  to  social  development. 

Rousseau's  views  have  influenced  the  Philanthropists, 
who  have  striven  toward  a  practical  realization  of  his 
ideas  in  their  institutions.  In  this  respect  Rousseau  had 
a  predecessor  in  August  Hermann  Francke,  the  founder  of 
the  Pädagogiu7n  ^  in  Halle.  Francke  also  occupied  the 
children  of  his  great  Orphans'  Home  with  handwork — 
spinning,  sewing,  knitting,  etc.,  yet  this  was  done  especially 
for  economic  reasons.  In  the  Pädagogium  in  which  the 
sens  of  aristocratic  families  were  educated,  handwork  was 
regarded  as  a  means  of  education.  The  pupils  were  in- 
structed by  masters  in  turning,  pasting,  and  glass-cutting, 
and  Mere  directed  in  making  all  kinds  of  useful  things. 
Francke  considered  the  chief  value  of  these  exercises  to  be 

1  An  educational  institution,  especially  for  boys. — Translator. 


HISTORY  OF  EDUCATIONAL  HANDWORK.  35 

in    the   fact   that    "they   prevented    idleness   and   childish 
amusements." 

From  the  Francke  Institutes,  handwork  passed  over  to 
the  Realschulen,  then  newly  organized.  The  founder  of 
the  first  school  of  this  kind,  Semler  in  Halle,  even  insisted 
that  a  good,  accurate  eye  and  a  ready  hand  could  be  ac- 
quired by  practicing  useful  manual  exercises.  In  the 
Realschule  founded  by  Hecker  at  Berlin,  turning,  pasting, 
glass-cutting,  finishing,  and  other  activities  were  carried  on 
and  similar  work  is  reported  of  other  Realschulen  of  that 
time.  So  the  inspiration  went  from  Halle  to  South  Ger- 
many and  Austria  and  there  caused  the  establishment  of 
industrial  schools  and  Realschulen.  It  also  appears,  that 
instruction  in  handwork  in  the  orphan  schools  was  there 
arranged  as  a  preparation  for  the  future  industrial  life 
work  of  the  pupils.  These  ideas  found  further  enlarge- 
m^ent  in  the  industrial  schools  {Industrieschulen)  founded 
tov/ard  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century,  which  after 
several  experiments  in  Braunschweig,  were  brought  to  life 
in  Bohemia  chiefly  through  the  efforts  of  Kindermann,  at 
first  pastor,  and  after  1775  professor  and  inspector  of  the 
public  school  system  in  Prag.  He  had  regard  for  econ- 
omic considerations  when  he  looked  upon  instruction  in 
handwork  as  the  chief  means  for  improving  the  welfare 
of  the  people,  but  in  doing  so  he  did  not  lose  sight  of  its 
educative  and  moral  significance.  Consequently  the  in- 
dustrial school  is  a  product  of  the  popular  pedagogical 
strivings  of  that  time,  which  found  their  strongest  cham- 
pions in  Maria  Theresa  and  Joseph  II  of  Austria  and  in 
Frederick  II  of  Prussia.  After  the  example  set  by  them, 
all  parts  of  Germany  joined  in  emulating  them  by  estab- 
lishing industrial  schools,  mostly  in  connection  with  the 


36  HANDWORK  INSTRUCTION  FOR  BOYS. 

public  Volksschulen.  For  the  most  part  women  teachers 
directed  the  instruction  in  the  industrial  classes.  Spin- 
ning, knitting,  and  sewing  were  carried  on  in  the  girls' 
classes,  while  in  the  boys'  classes  woodworking  and  braid- 
ing were  additional  activities.  In  the  country  there  were 
added  instruction  in  the  cultivation  of  gardens  and  fruit 
trees,  and  the  culture  of  silkworms  and  bees.  As  a  sub- 
ordinate purpose,  the  effort  was  made  to  let  the  children 
earn  something  from  their  work;  the  industrial  schools 
were  often  simply  designated  as  "schools  for  making  a 
living."  Their  connection  with  the  schools  for  study  was 
merely  external;  there  was  scarcely  any  thought  of  carry- 
ing out  pedagogical  ideas.  Industrial  schools  were  also 
established  especially  for  children  of  the  lower  and  poorer 
classes. 

But  even  in  the  educational  institutions  for  the  youth  of 
higher  rank,  handwork  was  not  overlooked,  especially  in 
those  of  the  Philanthropists,  all  of  which  were  under  the 
influence  of  Locke  and  Rousseau.  Basedow  demands  in 
his  Methodenbuch  (Book  of  Methods)  that  children 
from  the  fourth  year  on  be  gradually  accustomed  to  physi- 
cal labor,  but  without  any  compulsion.  Two  hours  of 
handwork  a  day  along  with  six  hours  of  instruction  are 
necessary,  and  indeed,  children  should  be  occupied  with 
garden  work  in  summer  and  with  the  construction  of  play- 
things, etc.,  in  winter.  In  accordance  with  this,  lessons 
were  arranged  for  the  older  pupils  according  to  the  cur- 
riculum of  the  Philanthropist  of  Dessau  in  turning  and 
cabinet  work,  and  later  in  pasteboard  work  and  finishing. 
Handwork  was  extensively  practiced  in  Schnepfenthal. 
Salzmann  esteemed  it  most  highly  and  considered  it  indis- 
pensable in  an  education  which  was  to  make  the  people 


HISTORY  OF  EDUCATIONAL  HANDWORK.  37 

good  and  happy.  "Are  not  the  hands  the  finest  tools  of  a 
man?  Can  one  indeed  believe  that  his  mind  is  capable 
of  expressing  his  manifold  powers,  when  his  best  instru- 
ments are  rusted,  when  his  hands  are  useless?"  he  says  in 
his  book.  Noch  etiuas  über  die  Erziehung  (Additional 
Facts  Concerning  Education.)  In  the  Ameisenbüchlein 
(Little  Book  on  Ants)  he  recommends  the  use  of  hand- 
work for  three  reasons:  satisfaction  of  the  longing  for  ac- 
tivity, improvement  in  the  health  of  the  children,  and  exer- 
cise of  the  mind,  eye,  and  hand.  In  Salzmann's  opinion 
the  objections  raised  against  handwork  come  for  the  most 
part,  from  those  educators  who  have  not  learned  to  know 
this  work,  and  for  that  reason  try  to  ridicule  it.  The  in- 
struction in  handwork  should  be  turned  over  to  educators, 
not  to  handworkers. 

In  the  institution  at  Schnepfenthal  the  following  work 
was  carried  on :  construction  of  playthings  out  of  paper, 
v.ood-carving,  net  making,  basketry,  pasteboard  work,  fin- 
ishing, cabinetwork,  and  turning.  In  every  living  room 
there  was  a  workshop  with  the  necessary  tools.  The  in- 
struction was  directed  by  B.  H.  Blasche,  active  as  a  teacher 
from  1796  on,  vvhose  writings  give  an  interesting  insight 
into  his  efforts  to  develop  instruction  in  handwork  from 
the  theoretical  and  practical  points  of  view.  These  writ- 
ings are  still  valuable  to-day. 

The  remaining  Philanthropists  shared  the  views  of 
Basedow  and  Salzmann  concerning  the  educative  value  of 
handwork.  Campe,  especially,  has  expressed  himself  un- 
equivocally concerning  it.  In  one  of  his  works  he  de- 
mands the  transformation  of  the  Volksschulen,  which  he 
calls  schools  of  laziness  and  inefficiency  for  life,  into  indus- 
trial schools.      In  all  the  educational   institutions  which 


38  HANDWORK  INSTRUCTION  FOR  BOYS. 

were  founded  through  the  influence  of  the  Philanthropists, 
the  examples  of  Dessau  and  Schnepfenthal  were  followed 
and  instruction  in  handwork  was  introduced.  In  many 
of  these  institutions  (for  example,  in  Keilhau,  Weinheim, 
and  others)  it  has  been  retained  to  the  present  time. 

As  time  passed,  the  industrial  schools  could  not  be  main- 
tained, partly  on  account  of  lack  of  means,  and  partly  be- 
cause of  the  difficulty  in  securing  good  teachers.  Most  of 
them  became  disorganized  during  the  war  time  at  the  be- 
ginning of  the  nineteenth  century-  Even  the  impulse 
which  the  educational  system  received  under  the  influence 
of  the  teachings  of  Pestalozzi,  did  not  favor  them,  since 
they  were  in  some  respects  opposed  to  his  ideas.  Yet  iso- 
lated industrial  schools  have  existed  until  recently,  for 
example,  in  Holstein  and  Oldenburg.  In  like  manner  the 
instruction  in  work,  which  is  carried  on  for  industrial 
purposes  in  many  educational  institutions,  can  be  traced 
back  to  the  impulse  derived  from  the  industrial  schools. 
An  instance  of  this  is  in  those  schools  for  children  who  are 
morally  depraved  or  afflicted  with  physical  deficiencies. 

The  conviction  that  work  has  value  as  a  means  of  edu- 
cation has  not  been  lost  sight  of  in  German  pedagogy.  It 
is  presented  in  an  especially  clear  and  impressive  manner 
in  the  writings  of  J.  H.  G.  Heusinger  (died  1837.)  Heu- 
singer  tried  to  introduce  the  principle  of  activity  into  edu- 
cation, asserting  that  man  was  born  for  doing  and  not  for 
speculating-  Therefore  the  impulse  for  activity  is  to  be 
used  by  means  of  education  in  every  way,  since  it  leads 
man  to  avenues  of  knowledge  which  would  otherwise  re- 
main closed  to  him.  Even  in  the  development  of  the 
artistic  sense,  it  is  of  significance,  since  modeling,  for  ex- 
ample, is  more  important  in  the  development  of  taste  than 
drawing. 


HISTORY  OF  EDUCATIONAL  HANDWORK.         39 

Similar  views  to  those  of  Heusinger  were  developed 
b}'  B.  H.  Blasche  (died  1832),  who  has  already  been  men- 
tioned, but  preeminent  in  the  development  of  them  was 
Pestalozzi. 

Pestalozzi's  attempt  to  maintain  an  educational  institu- 
tion for  poor  children  at  Neuhof  was  a  well-known  fail- 
ure. His  ideas  of  how  the  youth  of  the  poorer  classes 
were  to  be  educated  by  means  of  work  and  their  social  con- 
dition improved  have  been  developed  in  Lienhard  und  Ger- 
trud (Leonard  and  Gertrude).  In  this  book  he  shows 
that  children  were  to  sew,  spin  cotton,  perform  tasks  in 
garden  and  field,  and,  along  with  these  activities,  learn 
to  read,  sing,  and  study  arithmetic-  In  this  way  he  wish- 
ed to  unite  the  training  for  a  life  work  with  the  Volks- 
schule, and  in  different  addresses  before  ministries  and 
other  authorities  he  expressed  this  thought.  The  idea  of 
such  education  for  the  poor  occupied  him  until  his  last 
years,  and  even  at  the  age  of  eighty  he  considered  anew 
the  plan  of  organizing  an  industrial  school  at  Neuhof. 
The  fact  that  he  comprehended  the  nature  of  such  a  school 
m.uch  more  thoroughly  than  the  other  representatives  of 
industrial  education,  is  shown  by  the  utterances  in  Lien- 
liard  and  Gertrud  and  in  other  writings.  He  had  a  clear 
conception  of  the  educational  significance  of  work  and  of 
its  influence  upon  the  intellectual  and  moral  development 
of  man,  as  is  shown,  for  example,  in  the  following  utter- 
ances: "It  has  become  indisputably  clear  to  me  how  much 
more  truly  a  person  is  moulded  through  that  which  he  does 
than  through  that  which  he  hears;"  "in  the  education  of 
people,  serious  and  severe  training  for  a  life  work  must 
necessarily  precede  all  word  instruction."  He  makes  his 
schoolmaster,  Glülphi,  in  Lienhard  and  Gertrud  the  ve- 


40  HANDWORK  INSTRUCTION  FOR  BOYS. 

hicie  of  his  ideas,  and  causes  him  to  say:  "Every  day  he 
saw  more  clearly  how  industry  trains  the  understanding; 
and  gives  strength  to  the  feelings,  as  it  prevents  the  deadly 
warping  of  the  senses  and  saves  them  for  the  forces  of  life, 
drawing  them  back  from  the  weakness  of  listening  to  our 
nonsense  about  activity  for  activity's  sake.  These  higher 
views  concerning  human  development  caused  him  to  bring 
the  lathe  for  turning,  the  planing  bench,  the  sewing  cush- 
ion, etc.,  into  his  school." 

Pestalozzi  regrets  very  much  that  the  children  of  the 
higher  classes  so  generally  lack  a  simple  preparation  in 
mechanical  ability-  He  points  out  this  lack  as  a  "wrong 
path  upon  which  the  course  of  nature,  in  the  unfolding 
and  development  of  its  powers,  has  been  forcibly  thrust 
aside."  Therefore  he  considers  it  necessary  that  these 
children  should  be  led  by  means  of  the  activity  of  the  hand 
to  the  activity  of  the  mind;  and,  with  this  end  in  view,  he 
has  the  pupils  in  the  institution  at  Ifferten,  in  their  geog- 
raphy lesson,  imitate  in  clay  the  physical  features  of  the 
surrounding  country.  Cabinetwork,  turning,  and  paste- 
board work  were  also  carried  on  at  Ififerten. 

Even  in  the  period  of  the  greatest  effectiveness  of  his 
system,  when  he  was  occupied  in  writing  his  Elementar- 
methode, Pestalozzi  did  not  lose  sight  of  the  significance 
of  handwork.  He  places  it  in  the  field  of  artistic  train- 
ing; that  is,  the  training  for  technical  ability  upon  which 
depend  all  accomplishments  which  are  needed  in  domestic 
and  civil  life.  Ability  {können)  is  regarded  as  the  out- 
ward expression  of  the  inner,  the  intellectual.  The  es- 
sence of  the  development  of  artistic  ability  consists  in  the 
development  of  thought  and  reason.  The  use  of  objects 
(the  A  B  C  of  object  teaching)  offers  an  opportunity  to 


HISTORY  OF  EDUCATIONAL  HANDWORK.         41 

utilize  the  means  at  hand,  through  the  use  of  which,  the 
foundation  is  laid  and  the  intellectual  foundation  for  art  is 
established.  The  development  of  mechanical  ability,  which 
is  still  necessary — in  other  words,  the  development  of  the 
physical  side  of  artistic  training — includes  the  training  of 
the  human  senses  and  the  limbs.  Their  goal  is  "the  high- 
est possible  control  of  the  nerves,  which  gives  assurance 
and  perfect  control  of  hand  and  foot."^  Both  phases  of 
artistic  training,  the  intellectual  and  the  physical,  must  be 
carried  on  together  from  the  cradle  up,  and  in  close  re- 
lation to  each  other.  Education  cannot  have  as  its  goal 
simply  to  develop  mechanical  skill.  Neither  is  the  artis- 
tic training  of  the  pupil  in  itself  sufficient.  He  says 
"The  careful  and  wise  use  of  the  means  of  training  offered 
in  domestic  life  is  just  as  important  from  the  physical  as 
from  the  moral  and  intellectual  point  of  view."  Yet  it 
would  be  wrong  to  use  the  ability  which  domestic  life  fur- 
nishes merely  as  a  means  of  education.  But  the  instruc- 
tion for  acquiring  skill  in  the  vocation  must  be  preceded  by 
a  general  education  in  art,  which  is  in  reality  the  A  B  C  of 
art.  This  A  B  C  of  art  is  a  series  of  exercises  which  pro- 
ceed from  the  simplest  (striking,  carrying,  hitting,  pulling, 
turning,  etc.),  to  the  most  complicated,  and  have  as  their 
purpose  to  give  the  pupil  accuracy  in  whatever  he  does. 

"These  elementary  gymnastics  in  art"  are  also  to  fur- 
nish the  natural  foundation  for  the  training  for  industry, 
so  that  special  training  for  a  trade  would  arise  from  the 
elementary  exercises  which  the  system  teaches.  From  it 
1  It  might  be  said  that  Pestalozzi  in  this  statement  shows 
that  he  ingeniously  foresaw  what  modern  psychology,  with  its 
scientific  reasons,  expresses  in  the  phrase:  "Transforming  the 
conscious  into  the  unconscious,"  and  "carving  out  nerve  paths." 


42  HANDWORK  INSTRUCTION  FOR  BOYS. 

Pestalozzi  believes  the  most  varied  and  difficult  move- 
rrents  of  industry  w^ill  become  mere  play,  and  in  his  letters 
to  influential  people  he  refers  repeatedly  to  the  remark- 
able results  for  industry  which  he  expects  from  the  influ- 
ence of  his  method.  Yet  the  attempts  to  devise  special 
exercises  as  a  pedagogical  foundation  for  industry  have 
never  been  completed. 

The  association  of  study  and  work  is  also  demanded  by 
Fichte.  His  Nationalerziehung  (National  Education) 
ought  to  induce  anyone  to  believe  that  he  can  help  him- 
self on  in  the  world  through  his  own  strength.  If  the 
pupil  is  accustomed  to  work,  he  escapes  temptation  caused 
by  anxiety  about  nourishment,  and  it  will  be  a  matter  of 
honor  with  him  to  depend  upon  no  one  else  for  his  liveli- 
hood. The  most  fundamental  kinds  of  work  are  the  culti- 
vation of  the  field  and  the  garden  and  the  industries  con- 
nected with  them.  This  work  is  not  to  sink  to  mere  me- 
chanical activity,  but  is  to  be  animated  by  the  thought  that 
it  is  preparing  for  the  future  life  work  of  the  pupil  In  the 
educational  state  which  Fichte  constructs  for  the  execu- 
tion of  his  ideas,  all  the  needs  of  the  members  of  the  state 
must,  as  far  as  possible,  be  satisfied  by  themselves.  Each 
one  works  for  the  whole  and  participates  in  the  blessings 
of  the  whole.  {Fichtes  Ideen  über  die  wirtschaftliche 
Erziehung  (Fichte's  Ideas  concerning  Economic  Educa- 
tion, von  E.  Zeissig.  Blätter  für  Knabenhandarbeit, 
1897.) 

Even  the  great  theorist,  Herbart,  has  clearly  recog- 
nized the  pedagogic  significance  of  handwork.  This  Is 
shown  especially  by  his  well-known  utterance:  "The  hand 
has  its  place  of  honor  along  with  speech,  in  lifting  man 
above  the  condition  of  the  animal."      In  like  manner  Her- 


HISTORY  OF  EDUCATIONAL  HANDWORK.         43 

bart  expresses  himself  in  other  places  concerning  the  im- 
portance of  training  the  hand,  and  demands,  for  example, 
that  ever  J'  boy  and  young  man  learn  to  handle  the  well- 
known  tools  of  the  cabinetmaker.  He  says:  "Mechanical 
skill  would  often  be  more  useful  than  gymnastics.  To 
the  Bürgerschulen  belong  work  schools,  which  need  not 
be  exactly  trade  schools." 

Other  places  in  Herbart's  works  show  that  he  recog- 
nizes in  physical  labor  an  excellent  preparation  for  sys- 
tematic activity  and  at  the  same  time  an  important  means 
for  forming  character.  He  says,  "Many  a  growing  boy 
finds  himself  sooner  at  handwork  or  in  business  or  in  agri- 
culture than  in  school." 

Among  the  representatives  of  the  Herbartian  school  Zil- 
ler  and  Ernst  Barth  in  Leipsic  have  especially  valued  in- 
struction in  handwork.  Ziller  sees  in  it  an  essential  broad- 
ening of  the  general  instruction  in  the  preparatory  school, 
and  a  foundation  for  the  later  technical  instruction  in  the 
trade  school  or  w^orkshop.  Consequently  instruction  in 
handwork  necessarily  belongs  to  the  training  of  pupils  who 
wish  to  devote  themselves  later  to  a  practical  calling. 
Since  1865  Ernst  Barth  has  carried  on  in  a  practical  way 
instruction  in  work  in  his  preparatory  school,  where  he 
has  found  in  W.  Niederley  an  expert  assistant.  In  his 
appreciation  of  instruction  in  work,  Barth  goes  farther 
than  Ziller,  since  he  regards  it  not  simply  as  a  preparation 
for  the  training  for  a  life  work,  but  as  the  best  form  of 
object  teaching  as  well.  In  accordance  with  this  idea,  it 
is  to  begin  with  the  first  school  year,  and  in  all  the  grades 
of  the  preparatory  school  it  is  to  be  carried  on  in  connec- 
tion with  the  other  branches  of  instruction.  In  his  book 
which  was  written  in  conjunction  with  Niederley,  Die 


44  HANDWORK  INSTRUCTION   FOR  BOYS. 

Schulwerkstatt  (the  School  Workshop),  1882,  Barth 
shows  how  Instruction  in  work  is  to  be  carried  on  in  the 
different  grades.  It  is  united  to  history  of  civilization  and 
natural  philosophy,  to  geography,  geometry,  and  drawing. 
From  the  twelfth  year  on,  but  not  until  then,  preparatory 
instruction  for  the  training  for  a  life  work  is  to  be  offered 
in  special  classes,  which  is  to  be  adapted  to  the  local  con- 
ditions and  branches  of  industry- 

As  representatives  of  the  Herbartian  school,  who  accept 
instruction  in  handwork  in  their  pedagogical  theories,  and 
who  also  try  to  some  extent  to  develop  it  practically,  may 
be  mentioned :  Willmarin,  O.  W.  Beyer,  and  W.  Rein. 
Willmann  has  expressed  himself  concerning  instruction  in 
handwork  in  different  places,  especially  in  his  Didaktik, 
(Didactics.)  O.  "W.  Beyer  in  his  book,  Die  Naturwis- 
senschaften in  der  Erziehungsschule  (Natural  Sciences 
in  the  Boarding  School),  developed  a  system  of  in- 
struction in  v.'ork,  the  problems  of  which  he  derived  from 
the  history  of  human  industry;  moreover,  special  stress 
is  placed  upon  his  article  in  Rein's  Encj'clopedia.  Pro- 
fessor Rein's  reputation  for  theory  and  his  practical  ex- 
periments in  the  Pedagogical  Seminar  in  Jena  in  the  way 
of  S3^stematic  development  of  instruction  in  work  are  con- 
sidered of  great  im.portance. 

While  the  representatives  of  the  Herbartian  pedagogy 
agree  in  disapproving  of  a  mere  external  connection  of  in- 
struction in  handwork  with  the  school,  but  make  it  de- 
pendent upon  the  other  branches  of  instruction,  in  that  it 
is  to  take  its  problems  from  them,  yet  we  find  an  essential- 
ly different  position  of  the  Instruction  in  work  in  the  edu- 
cational system  of  Friedrich  Fröbel.  Fröbel  agrees  with 
Heusinger  in  his  views  since,  like  him,  he  emphasizes  the 


HISTORY  OF  EDUCATIONAL  HANDWORK.         45 

fact  that  man  is  born  for  action.  Acting,  producing,  do- 
ing, precedes  thinking,  in  the  development  of  the  single 
thing  as  well  as  in  the  development  of  humanity.  Activ- 
ity' and  doing  are  the  first  manifestations  in  the  child's  life; 
in  the  impulse  for  activity  the  very  existence  of  the  human 
being  expresses  itself.  Therefore  education  must  begin 
with  doing;  everything  must  be  connected  with  the  train- 
ing of  the  impulse  for  activity  and  from  this  everything 
must  be  evolved.  In  this  is  clearly  expressed  the  contrast 
between  Frobel  and  Herbart.  While  the  latter  wishes  to 
make  handwork  dependent  upon  instruction  in  other  sub- 
jects, according  to  Frobel,  instruction  in  all  other  subjects 
proceeds  from  handwork  and  is  founded  upon  it.  A  fur- 
ther development  of  these  ideas  of  Frobel  is  found  in 
Pösche,  Georgens,  and  Deinhardt  and,  in  most  recent 
tim.es,  in  the  American,  Dewey.  The  latter  bases  his 
opinions  upon  the  teachings  of  modern  psychology  and 
sociology  and,  consequently,  must  be  considered  more  fully 
in  a  later  place.  Concerning  those  first  mentioned,  on  the 
other  hand,  it  can  be  said  in  general  that  their  theory  car- 
ries out  further  the  thoughts  of  Frobel  and  attempts  to 
make  them  especially  useful  with  reference  to  political 
economy.  Pösche,  who  was  inspector  of  education  in 
Berlin,  states  that  it  is  his  purpose  "to  make  an  effort  to 
organize  the  practical  activities  of  the  society  into  an  edu- 
cational institution  for  the  youth,  to  found  learning  and 
knowledge  upon  activity  and  exercise  in  work,  and  to  add 
the  artistic-industrial  element  in  the  life  of  our  people  to 
the  theoretical  one-sidedness  of  our  present  Volksschule." 
Georgens  and  Deinhardt,  who  wrote  their  works  in  col- 
laboration, presented  at  the  Ninth  General  Assembly  of 
German  Teachers  theses  in  which  they  say:     "Creative 

4 


46  HANDWORK  INSTRUCTION  FOR  BOYS. 

work  must  be  represented  within  the  Volksschule  if  an  all- 
round  development  is  to  be  the  aim  of  pedagogy Ex- 
ercises in  work  must  be  joined  in  organic  unity  with 
instruction  as  a  whole,  and  must  contain  an  artistic  as 
well  as  a  gymnastic  element." 

Though  Diesterweg  gave  his  approval  to  the  method 
of  Georgens  and  characterized  it  as  the  "way  of  Nature," 
as  "pure  instruction  of  Pestalozzi  and  Fröbel,"  there  arose 
between  several  of  the  followers  of  Diesterweg  on  the  one 
hand  and  Georgens  and  Deinhardt  on  the  otht-r,  a  severe 
confiict,  which  was  not  without  influence  upon  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  of  German  Teachers  soon  afterward  held  in 
Frankfurt  (1857.)  After  a  speech  of  Dishart,  this  or- 
ganization declared  itself  opposed  to  the  principle  advo- 
cated by  him  and  his  friend  Georgens,  viz.:  "Education 
for  work  by  means  of  work,"  and  with  that  the  problem  of 
instruction  in  work  for  the  school  seemed  to  be  settled — 
a  precedent  which  was  observed  again  in  a  very  similar 
v.ay  fort3'-threc  3'ears  later  in  the  General  Assembly  of 
German  Teachers  at  Cologne. 

Isolated  efforts  were  made  to  disseminate  the  ideas  of 
Pestalozzi  and  to  turn  them  to  account  in  the  school,  but 
like  those  of  Beust  in  Zürich,  Stoy  in  Bielitz,  Willmann 
in  Vienna,  and  others,  they  could  gain  but  little  influence 
and  were  lost  in  the  mass  of  proposals  for  pedagogical 
reform.  On  the  other  hand,  the  attempts  were  more  effec- 
tive which  started  from  an  economic  point  of  view  and 
which  were  undertaken  in  rescue  homes,  boarding  schools, 
orphans'  homes,  and  similar  institutions.  Especially 
worthy  of  mention  in  this  connection  is  J.  H.  Wichern, 
the  founder  of  the  Rauhes  Haus  in  Hamburg,  who,  in  his 
contribution  Über  Erziehung  zur  Arbeit,  insbesondere  in 


HISTORY  OF  EDUCATIONAL  HANDWORK.         47 

Anstalten  (Concerning  Education  for  work,  especially  in 
Institutions),  Hamburg,  1867,  showed  that  the  idea  of 
education  in  work  was  not  lost. 

In  a  still  greater  measure  assistance  was  given  for  its 
advancement  by  the  problem  announced  by  Magistrate 
Schindler  in  Zürich:  "How  can  the  instruction  of  the 
Volksschule  be  freed  from  the  abstract  method  and  be 
made  more  effective  in  the  development  of  the  powers  of 
the  mind  ?" 

For  the  solution  of  this  problem  Dr.  K.  Michelson 
(died  in  Hildesheim  in  1862)  and  Prof.  K.  Biedermann, 
(died  in  Leipsic,  1901),  proposed  the  union  of  the  Volks- 
schule with  a  work  school.  The  significance  of  the  book 
written  by  Beidermann  (Karl  Friedrich),  Die  Erziehung 
zur  Arbeit,  eine  Forderung  des  Lebens  an  die  Schule 
(Education  for  Work,  a  Demand  of  Life  upon  the 
School,  Liepsic,  1852),  justifies  us  in  looking  upon  this 
even  today  as  one  of  the  most  important  writings  on  the 
establishment  of  instruction  in  work,  and  in  looking  into 
its  contents  somewhat  more  closely.  Professor  Bieder- 
mann, who  through  his  inquiries  into  the  political  life  of 
the  middle  of  the  last  century,  and  through  his  compre- 
hensive studies  in  the  history  of  civilization,  became  con- 
vinced that  there  was  need  of  a  thorough  reform  in  the 
German  system  of  education,  justified  his  demand  for 
"education  through  work"  by  pointing  out,  first  of  all,  the 
drav.-backs  and  disadvantages  of  purely  theoretical  instruc- 
tion. In  connection  with  it  he  calls  attention  to  the  over- 
burdening of  the  pupils,  and  especially  to  the  injuries  to 
the  health  which  exist  in  all  kinds  of  schools  as  a  result  of 
the  overloading.  In  a  later  chapter.  Schule  und  Leben, 
(School  and  Life),  he  correctly  emphasizes  the  fact  that 


48  HANDWORK  INSTRUCTION  FOR  BOYS. 

the  theoretical  knowledge  and  acquirements  gained  in  the 
e.chool  have  in  some  respects  little  significance  for  life, 
moreover  that  the  school  not  infrequently  weakens  in  the 
pupils  the  taste  for  domestic  and  practical  pursuits,  and 
accustoms  them  to  look  down  with  scorn  from  the  height 
of  their  imagined  wisdom  upon  the  activities  of  their  par- 
ents and  companions.  In  order  that  the  school  may  really 
be  a  preparatory  school  for  life,  he  demands  of  it  the  fol- 
lowing: along  with  knowledge  and  understanding,  along 
with  memory  and  the  other  powers  of  receptivity,  it  must 
also  develop  inportant  means  of  independence,  viz. :  prac- 
tical ability,  the  inclination  for  construction,  keenness  of 
eye,  skill  of  hand;  and,  above  all,  will  power;  in  a  word, 
it  must  be  not  only  a  school  for  teaching  and  learning  in 
the  usual  sense  of  the  term,  but  at  the  same  time  a  school 
for  work,  and  must  assume  its  task  of  educating  the  pupils 
for  work. 

The  claim  that  the  )^outh  is  in  need  of  training  for  cre- 
ative activity  is  based  by  Biedermann  upon  the  needs  of 
human  nature,  especially  those  of  the  child  and  upon  those 
of  the  German  people  as  a  nation.  He  goes  on  to  discuss 
the  pedagogical  advantages  of  the  practical  method,  and  re- 
futes the  objections  which  have  been  raised  against  instruc- 
tion in  work.  The  question  whether  it  is  possible  to  make 
room  in  the  curriculum  for  courses  in  handwork  in  the 
schools,  especially  in  the  Volksschule,  forms  the  contents 
of  a  further  chapter,  which  is  enlarged  by  proposals  con- 
cerning the  organization  of  instruction  in  work  according 
to  pedagogical  principles. 

In  the  second  edition  of  the  work  which  appeared  in 
1883  in  an  essentially  re-written  form,  Biedermann  has 
presented  the  movement  for  the  introduction  of  instruc- 


HISTORY  OF  EDUCATIONAL  HANDWORK.         49 

tion  in  work  in  its  further  development  up  to  that  year. 

The  animated  discussions  which  were  caused  by  the 
writings  of  Michelsen  and  Biedermann,  and  which  were 
carried  on  by  prominent  school  men  such  as  Curtmann, 
Eisenlohr  and  Diesterweg,  led  to  no  settlement  of  the  ques- 
tion. Eisenlohr  declared  himself  opposed  to  the  proposals 
of  Michelsen  and  Biedermann,  Curtmann  wished  to  se- 
cure education  for  work  without  actual  instruction  in 
handwork,  and  Diesterweg  considered  the  training  for 
practical  work  necessary,  but  wished  to  assign  it  to  the 
oversight  of  the  family,  not  the  school.  "The  equipment 
of  schools  for  work  is  an  encroachment  upon  the  rights  of 
parents  and  would  certainly  call  forth  a  protest  from  all 
the  country  people"  is  the  decision  of  Diesterweg.  This 
he  later  modified  considerably. 

The  pietistic-reactionary  tendency  of  the  school  world 
at  that  time  was  not  favorable  to  the  further  development 
of  the  idea  of  instruction  in  work,  since  it  saw  in  the 
school  for  work  an  expression  of  the  materialism  then  pene- 
trating all  circles  of  life,  which  would  necessarily  injure 
the  education  of  the  youth  for  ecclesiastical  service. 

In  the  meantime,  however,  the  ideas  of  Fröbel  and 
other  champions  of  instruction  in  work  had  exerted  a  fur- 
ther influence,  especially  in  foreign  countries.  In  Austria 
in  the  year  1872  a  decree  of  the  Minister  of  Education 
had  permitted  the  introduction  of  modeling  into  the  cur- 
riculum of  the  Realschule,  and  in  1873  appeared  a  work 
by  Erasmus  Schwab,  Director  of  the  Gymnasium  in 
Vienna,  Die  Arbeitsschule  als  organischer  Bestandteil  der 
Volksschule  (The  School  for  Work  as  an  Organized  Ele- 
ment of  the  Volksschule),  which  had  the  same  effect  as 
the  writings  of  Michelsen  and  Biedermann  in  Germany. 


50  HANDWORK  INSTRUCTION  FOR  BOYS. 

As  Schwab  expressed  himself,  "The  most  important 
pedagogical  problem  of  our  time  is  the  introduction  of 
work  as  an  educative  element  in  the  organization  of  the 
Volksschule.  It  cannot  otherw  ise  fulfill  its  duty  of  edu- 
cating the  people,  a  task  which  becomes  every  day  more 
difficult.  After  the  actual  instruction  in  handwork  has 
been  generally  established,  an  ef^fort  should  be  made  to 
unite  a  school  workshop  with  the  bojs'  schools."  At  the 
World's  Exposition  in  Vienna  in  1873,  Schwab  exhibited 
a  model  of  his  own  school,  which  included  a  school  work- 
shop and  a  school  garden  for  boys  and  girls.  {Die  öster- 
reichische Musterschule  in  der  Wiener  Weltaustellung, 
1873,  von  Dr.  E.  Schwab,  mit  2  Plänen  von  Krumholzj 
Wien,  1873.  The  Austrian  Model  School  at  the  World's 
Exposition  in  Vienna,  1873,  by  Dr.  E.  Schwab,  with  two 
plans  by  Krumholz,  Vienna,  1873.)  These  suggestions 
were  received  by  the  Austrian  Bürgerschulen,  as  well  as 
in  the  Seminar  at  Troppau,  and  led  to  the  organization  of 
a  Society,  the  purpose  of  which  was  the  advancement  of 
instruction  in  handwork  in  Austria.  In  the  direction  of 
this  society  Anton  Kreuzig  (died  1905)  performed  valu- 
able service. 

The  unsettled  internal  political  conditions  in  Austria 
explain  why  the  further  development  of  instruction  in 
work  could  secure  an  interest  only  in  limited  circles.  The 
service  of  men  like  J.  Urban,  A.  Bruhns,  R.  Petzel,  and  G. 
Herbe  In  Vienna,  A.  Naske  in  Brunn  and  others,  who 
exerted  themselves  to  develop  instruction  in  work  from 
a  pedagogical  point  of  view,  is  the  greater  because  of  the 
difficulties  under  which  they  worked. 

It  is  an  often  repeated  occurrence  that  ideas,  the  dis- 
semination of  which  makes  for  the  development  of  cul- 


HISTORY  OF  EDUCATIONAL  HANDWORK.  51 

ture,  get  a  foothold  more  easily  in  smaller  districts  than 
in  large  states  in  which  differences  of  race  and  nationality 
offer  great  resistance  to  the  spread  of  a  new  idea.  This 
is,  in  general,  also  true  of  the  idea  of  instruction  in  work 
(its  spread  in  the  United  States  of  America  being  an  ex- 
ception) which  has  completely  made  its  way  into  the 
small  countries  of  the  North,  especially  in  Finland,  Swed- 
en, Norway,  and  Denmark.  The  course  which  the  move- 
ment has  taken  is  as  follows: 

In  the  year  1857  a  schoolman,  Uno  Cygnaeus,  was 
commissioned  by  the  Senate  of  Finland  to  make  a  study 
of  the  systems  of  instruction  of  th^  people  in  the  different 
European  countries.  He  traveled  in  France,  Germany, 
and  Switzerland,  and  upon  his  return  the  commission  was 
given  him  of  working  out  a  plan  for  the  reorganization  of 
the  system  of  Volksschulen  of  Finland.  This  plan,  which 
went  into  force  in  the  year  1866,  contained  the  stipula- 
tion that  technical  work  should  be  regarded  as  a  required 
course  in  the  curriculum  of  the  Seminar,  and  the  city  and 
country  schools.  It  v/as  clearly  the  idea:  of  Pestalozzi 
and  Fröbel  which  inspired  the  Northern  schoolman;  but 
at  any  rate,  Finland  was  the  first  country  to  introduce 
into  the  school  instruction  in  handwork  for  boys  as  a 
regular  course.  From  Finland  it  made  its  way  to  Sweden 
and  Denmark,  and  has  been  carried  to  a  high  stage  of 
development  there  under  the  name  of  sloj^d.  It  cannot  be 
said  that  the  idea  was  developed  independently  in  either 
one  of  these  countries,  since  in  Denmark,  for  example,  the 
opposite  is  true,  where  the  Retired  Captain  of  Horse 
Clauson-Kaas  (died  1906),  as  early  as  the  sixties,  became 
interested  in  instruction  in  handwork  thru  the  education 
of  his  own  children.     He  established    in   Copenhagen   a 


52  HANDWORK  INSTRUCTION  FOR  BOYS. 

kind  of  wandering  school  workshop,  in  which  he  gave  in- 
struction of  all  kinds  of  useful  occupations,  and  in  1873 
founded  the  General  Danish  Society  for  Domestic  Indus- 
try, which  created  a  stir  by  its  exhibits  at  the  World's  Ex- 
position at  Vienna.  Through  this,  Clauson-Kaas  became 
known  in  Germany,  and  after  he  began  to  defend  his  ideas 
publicly  in  lectures,  they  found  many  followers.  To  be 
sure  his  followers  at  first  were  mostly  people  who  were  not 
pedagogues,  as  the  name  of  the  organization  which  he 
founded  at  Berlin  in  1876,  the  Society  for  Domestic  In- 
dustrial Activity,  goes  to  show.  A  course  for  the  train- 
ing of  teachers  contributed  most  toward  the  further  devel- 
opment of  the  idea.  This  course  was  offered  by  Clauson- 
Kaas  in  Emden  in  1880  and  was  attended  by  sixty-three 
people  from  different  parts  of  Germany.  Thru  these 
people, — most  of  whom  were  teachers,  whom  Clauson-Kaas 
succeeded  in  inspiring, — his  teachings  were  carried  to  dif- 
ferent parts  of  Germany  and  led  to  practical  results  in 
Dresden,  Görlitz,  Berlin,  and  other  places. 

Clauson-Kaas  had  not  overlooked  the  educational  sig- 
nificance of  instruction  in  handwork.  Rather  it  had  been 
the  starting  point  of  his  activity ;  but  in  the  further  course 
of  development  this  idea  of  domestic  industry  came  into 
the  foreground.  At  least  his  efforts  in  Germany  were  at 
first  regarded  only  from  this  point  of  view,  a^  is  evident 
from  the  statutes  of  the  Berlin  Society,  mentioned  above, 
which  had  in  mind  the  construction  of  objects  which  were 
easily  made,  as  far  as  technique  is  concerned.  A.  Lammers 
in  Bremen,  who  took  up  the  idea  of  domestic  industry  and 
caused  it  to  spread  widely  by  means  of  his  efforts  thru 
his  magazine  Nordwest  (Northwest),  as  well  as  by  his 
lectures  in  diflferent  places,  took  hold  of  the  matter  first 


HISTORY  OF  EDUCATIONAL  HANDWORK.  53 

only  from  this  side.  A  lecture  which  Lammers  delivered 
in  1880  in  Leipsic  before  the  Society  for  the  Promotion  of 
the  Public  Good  gave  the  impetus  for  founding  a  pupils' 
M'orkshop  in  that  place,  wehere  the  ground  was  already  pre- 
pared for  a  new  movement  by  the  previous  activity  of  Ziller 
and  his  pupil  Barth.  This  movement,  with  a  purely  peda- 
gogical tendency,  soon  found  here  a  further  development, 
which  was  ushered  in  by  the  writings  of  Barth-Niederley, 
which  have  already  been  mentioned,  and  by  a  work  of 
Oberlehrer  Dr.  W.  Götze,  Die  Ergänzung  des  Schul- 
unterrichts durch  praktische  Beschäftigung  (The  Com- 
pletion of  the  Instruction  of  the  School  by  Means  of  Prac- 
tical Activity),  which  appeared  in  the  year  1880. 

In  the  school  workshop  of  Leipsic,  which  was  founded 
in  that  year,  the  educational  side  of  instruction  in  hand- 
work w^as  kept  in  mind  from  the  very  beginning,  and 
since  courses  for  teachers  were  arranged  along  with  those 
for  pupils,  which  were  very  soon  attended  even  by  foreign 
teachers,  the  Leipsic  movement  found  followers  in  other 
places  and  was  rapidly  advanced. 

E.  von  Schenckendorff,  at  that  time  town-counsellor 
and  later  deputy  in  Görlitz,  proved  himself  the  most 
active  and  most  cautious  champion  of  instruction  in 
handwork.  Even  in  the  year  1880  he  expressed  in  a 
memorial  address  to  the  government  the  advantages  of 
domestic  industry  for  the  people  of  Upper  Schleswig,  and 
he  further  emphasized  most  forcibly  the  social-pedagogical 
significance  of  instruction  in  handwork.  He  stated  that 
it  was  one  of  the  means  of  building  up  an  efficient  class 
of  handworkers  and  of  creating  in  the  upper  classes  of  soci- 
ety  respect   for   handwork   and   an   understanding  of   its 


54  HANDWORK  INSTRUCTION  FOR  BOYS. 

products;  in  this  way  he  held,  it  would  be  able  to  contrib- 
ute essentially  to  the  improvement  of  industry.  These 
statements  received  a  hearing  from  the  public  and  from  the 
authorities  the  more  easily,  because  the  eyes  of  all  intelli- 
gent people  had  been  opened  at  the  World's  Expositions  of 
1873  and  1876,  by  the  previous  failures  of  German  indus- 
try, which  was  branded  for  a  long  time  by  Reuleaux'  se- 
vere judgment,  cheap  and  poor.  They  succeeded,  therefore, 
in  inducing  the  ministry  of  public  instruction  to  appoint  a 
committee  which  was  commissioned  to  make  a  study  of  the 
schools  for  work  in  Denmark  and  Sweden.  The  commis- 
sion found,  especially  in  Sweden,  much  that  was  deserving 
of  attention;  for  example,  in  Gothenburg  handwork  was 
carried  on  in  the  Volksschule  as  a  regular  subject  of  in- 
struction, and  in  the  Serninar  for  Teachers  of  sloyd  at 
Nääs  where  Director  Salamon,  in  an  institution  founded 
by  his  uncle  Abrahamson,  directed  in  a  pedagogical  manner 
the  training  of  teachers  for  instruction  in  handwork.  The 
method  of  Swedish  sloyd  which  was  perfected  in  Nääs  has 
smce  then  exerted  a  great  influence  upon  the  development 
of  instruction  in  handwork,  not  only  in  Germany  but  also 
in  other  countries,  and  even  if  we  do  not  allow  ourselves 
to  be  influenced  in  many  respects  by  the  principles  of  the 
Swedish  system  (for  example,  in  that  we  carry  on,  not 
only  woodwork,  but  also  other  courses  of  instruction  in 
work),  yet  its  essential  main  features  are  to  be  recognized 
in  the  German  instruction  in  work. 

The  external  development  In  Germany  was  furthered 
by  the  formation  of  a  central  committee  for  Instruction  in 
Hand  Skill  and  Home  Industry  in  Berlin  in  1881  at  the 
instigation  of  E.  von  SchenckendorflE.  This  committee 
was  changed  in  1886  into  the  "German  Society  for  Boys* 


HISTORY  OF  EDUCATIONAL  HANDWORK.  55 

Handwork,"  from  which  arose  an  organized  movement 
and  a  systematic  effort  to  develop  handwork  in  accord 
with  pedagogy.  The  society  was  directed  first  by  A. 
Lammers,  and  since  1892  by  E.  von  Schenckendorff.  In 
the  twenty  years  of  its  existence  the  Society  has  in  an 
effective  way  been  active  in  the  spread  and  development 
of  the  idea  of  instruction  in  handwork.  The  propaganda 
was  accomplished  on  the  outside  by  means  of  meetings  and 
the  spread  of  printed  matter,  and  within  the  society  a  num- 
ber of  enthusiastic  men  occupied  themselves  with  the  peda- 
gogical development  of  instruction  in  handwork.  Among 
these,  along  with  Grunow,  Noeggerath,  Groppler,  Ku- 
nath,  and  others,  Götze  should  be  specially  mentioned, 
who  by  founding  a  normal  institution  in  Leipsic  in  1887, 
of  which  he  was  the  head  until  his  death  in  1898,  as  well 
as  by  his  numerous  writings  on  the  further  de\elopment 
of  instruction  in  handwork,  has  exerted  the  greatest  in- 
fluence. Thru  the  teachers  trained  in  Leipsic,  the  num- 
ber of  whom  will  soon  have  exceeded  two  thousand,  the 
"Leipsic  Method"  has  become  known  all  over  Germany, 
and  even  beyond.  The  great  respect  in  which  the  institu- 
tion at  Leipsic  is  held  in  foreign  countries  is  shown  by  the 
great  number  of  foreign  members  in  its  classes.  Since  1897 
this  institution  has  had  its  own  building  and  on  that  ac- 
count has  possessed  a  greater  capacity  for  development. 
(See  article  by  R.  Rissmann,  Geschichte  des  Handarbeits- 
UTiterrichts  (History  of  Instruction  in  Handwork),  in 
Rein's  Encyklopädisches  Handbuch  der  Pädagogik  (En- 
cyclopedic Handbook  of  Pedagogy.) 

Only  a  few  of  the  men  who  in  the  last  decades,  especi- 
ally in  the  German  Society  for  Boys'  Handwork,  have 
been  active  in  the  spread  of  instruction  in  work,  were  con- 


56  HANDWORK  INSTRUCTION  FOR  BOYS. 

nected  with  school  work;  indeed  it  is  very  significant  that 
the  new  movement  found  its  strongest  opponents  in 
the  circles  of  schoolmen.  Even  in  1882  the  German 
Lehrertag  (Teachers'  Association)  in  Cassel  expressed  it- 
self as  decidedly  opposed  to  instruction  in  work,  and  since 
then  similar  statem.ents  have  been  made  not  only  in  a 
number  of  provincial  assemblies  but  they  have  in  fact  de- 
termined the  key-note  of  all  the  articles  which  have  been 
published  on  instruction  in  handwork  in  the  pedagogical 
press.  Especially  violent  attacks  were  published  during  the 
nineties  against  instruction  in  handwork  and  its  defenders 
by  the  Frankfurt  Schulzeitung  (School  Journal),  and  the 
tone  which  the  editor  of  this  magazine  and  other  pedagogical 
writers  assumed  made  it  difficult  for  the  advocates  of  in- 
struction in  handwork  to  maintain  their  position  in  an 
effective  way.  The  rude  rebuff  which  instruction  in  hand- 
work received  at  the  teachers'  conference  at  Cologne  in 
1900  seem.ed  to  decide  the  battle  which  had  raged  violently 
for  several  years  against  the  new  movement.  But  as  often 
happens  in  such  intellectual  battles,  the  new  ideas  founded 
upon  the  convictions  of  the  majority  were  not  to  be  thrust 
aside ;  on  the  other  hand  the  saying  of  Goethe  was  verified 
that  the  opponents  of  such  ideas  are  only  like  one  who  strikes 
into  glowing  coals:  the  sparks  fly  about  and  kindle  a  fire 
even  in  places  where  they  would  not  otherwise  have  reached. 
The  development  of  things  in  the  last  few  years  has  shown 
this  to  be  true  with  reference  to  instruction  in  work.  The 
opposition  caused  large  groups  of  people  to  prove  that  the 
new  idea  had  pedagogical  value,  and  the  friends  of  the 
movement  were  spurred  to  stand  together  the  more  firmly 
for  its  defense  and  to  secure  the  means  of  defending  their 
cause.     This  opposition  has  prevented  the  attempt  to  in- 


HISTORY  OF  EDUCATIONAL  HANDWORK.  57 

tioduce  handwork  into  the  public  schools  too  early  and  too 
hurriedly;  on  the  other  hand,  it  has  not  been  able  to  shake 
the  foundation  principles  of  the  movement,  and  so  there 
is  definite  hope  that  in  the  future  instruction  in  hand- 
work will  gradually  attain  the  place  which  belongs  to  it 
in  German  schools. 

It  still  remains  to  give  a  brief  survey  of  the  develop- 
ment of  instruction  in  work  in  the  countries  outside  of 
Germany.  With  reference  to  the  northern  countries,  espec- 
ially Finland,  Sweden,  and  Denmark,  the  principal  facts 
concerning  its  historical  development  have  already  been 
recorded.  It  should  be  added  that  sloyd  in  th^  Swedish 
schools  is  generally  not  obligator}',  but  on  account  of  the 
abundant  means  which  is  granted  by  the  state  and  other 
authorities  it  is  quite  generally  accepted  and  is  introduced 
into  the  majority  of  schools.  The  conditions  are  similar 
in  Denmark,  ^vhere,  especially  in  the  towns,  instruction  in 
sloyd  is  carried  on  according  to  a  system  worked  out  by  A. 
Mikkelsen,  while  Norway,  by  the  school  law  of  1896,  has 
made  it  obligatory  for  all  elementary  and  secondary 
schools. 

The  development  of  instruction  in  handwork  has  be- 
come of  special  importance  in  France,  where  it  was  made 
an  obligatory  course  in  all  elementary  schools  by  the  edu- 
cational law  of  1882.  This  result  was  secured  after  at- 
tempts to  introduce  it  had  been  made  in  several  of  the 
schools  of  Paris  ever  since  1873.  These  attempts,  dating 
back  to  the  personal  initiative  of  Salicis,  formerly  a  naval 
officer,  were  a  preparation  for  the  further  activity,  cul- 
minating in  the  unique  combination  of  theory  and  practice 
which  is  shown  in  the  instruction  in  handwork  in  France. 
At  any  rate  it  has  developed   quite   independently,  even 


58  HANDWORK  INSTRUCTION  FOR  BOYS. 

though  the  Inspiration  for  it  came  to  Frar.ce  from  other 
countries. 

The  same  can  be  said  of  England,  which  entered  com- 
paratively late  the  ranks  of  those  countries  which  have 
accepted  instruction  in  handwork.  The  inspiration  for 
it  came  chiefly  from  Sweden  and  Germany,  but  Endand 
thru  its  independent  development  and  energetic  and  self- 
sacrificing  help  in  the  advancement  of  the  idea,  has  already 
reached  a  stage  in  its  development  which  we  are  at  present 
far  from  attaining  in  Germany.  The  great  influence 
which  the  lay  element  exerts  upon  the  English  schools  in 
general  has  been  very  favorable  toward  the  development 
of  instruction  in  handwork,  since  the  layman  as  a  rule 
has  met  it  in  a  more  unprejudiced  way  than  the  profes- 
sional pedagogue. 

The  first  impulse  for  reform  in  the  public  school  sys- 
tem of  England  with  regard  to  practical  courses  of  in- 
struction was  started  by  the  distinguished  physiologist 
Huxley,  who  as  early  as  1887  demanded  a  careful  investi- 
gation of  the  S}^stem  of  industrial  education.  He  points 
out  the  chief  weaknesses  of  the  present  school  instruction 
to  be  the  custom  of  learning  merely  from  the  book  and  the 
lack  of  regard  for  practical  needs  and  conditions.  And 
furthermore  the  child  is  brought  too  little  in  touch  with 
real  things  and  facts.  As  a  wholesome  remedy  for  these 
weaknesses  he  recommended  intensive  object  teaching, along 
with  which  the  training  of  the  eye  and  hand  must  be  ac- 
complished by  means  of  drawing,  modeling,  and  other 
kinds  of  handwork.  It  is  characteristic  of  English  con- 
ditions that  even  now  the  leadership  in  the  province  of 
instruction  in  handwork  lies  in  the  hands  of  prominent 
scientific  men ;  especially  has  Sir  Philip  Magnus,  for  many 


HISTORY  OF  EDUCATIONAL  HANDWORK.  59 

years  President  of  the  National  Association  of  Manual 
Training  Teachers  in  London,  and  an  authority  in  the 
field  of  theoretic  physics,  performed  great  services  in  this 
respect. 

The  development  in  the  other  countries  of  Europe  can 
b("  characterized  in  a  few  words.  Switzerland,  in  har- 
mony with  the  high  degree  of  development  of  the  system 
of  its  elementar3'  schools  in  many  of  the  cantons,  has  ad- 
vanced comparatively  far  in  systematically  arranged  in- 
struction in  work;  this  is  especially  true  of  the  cities  of 
Basel,  Zürich,  Bern,  Lausanne,  Geneva,  Neuenburg,  and 
others. 

In  Belgium  instruction  in  handwork  is  carried  on 
especially  in  Seminare,  in  Holland  also  in  several  elemen- 
tary schools,  of  which  that  in  Enschede  has  won  distinc- 
tion far  beyond  the  boundaries  of  Holland,  because  of  the 
activity  of  its  former  Rector,  de  Vries,  (cf.  Lehmensick: 
Eine  Studienreise  nach  einer  Holländischen  Volksschule 
(A  Journey  for  the  Purpose  of  Studying  an  Elementary 
School  of  Holland.)  The  development  of  instruction  in 
w"ork  in  Austria  has  already  been  touched  upon,  at  least 
in  so  far  as  it  offers  general  interest.  In  Hungary,  Ser- 
via,  Bulgaria,  and  especially  in  Roumania,  its  advance- 
ment has  from  time  to  time  been  undertaken  very  ener- 
getically, even  though  these  efforts  have  not  always  be:'n 
made  with  the  same  stress,  on  account  of  the  frequently 
changing  political  conditions.  In  general  this  is  als )  the 
case  in  Russia,  where,  especially  in  the  provinces  of  the 
Baltic  Sea,  the  ideas  received  from  Germany  and  Finland 
early  took  root.  On  account  of  the  economic  conditions, 
the  Russian  people  have  not  been  able  to  develop  their 
characteristic  talent  and   inclination  for  the  technical  as 


6Ö  HANDWORK  INSTRUCTION  FOR  BOYS. 

they  might  have  done  under  more  favorable  circumstances. 
Meanwhile  it  is  to  be  noted  that  there  has  come  from 
Russia  to  the  United  States  of  America  a  very  fruitful  in- 
spiration, which  has  essentially  influenced  the  development 
of  the  instruction  in  work  there.  Since  this  development 
has  proceeded  in  a  very  characteristic  way,  it  requires  a 
somewhat  more  thorough  consideration.  It  actually  be- 
gan in  the  year  1876  when,  at  the  World's  Exposition  in 
Philadelphia,  the  European  exhibits  of  systems  of  indus- 
trial training  attracted  the  attention  of  the  Americans. 
It  was  especially  the  Russian  department  in  which  the 
models  exhibited  by  the  Technical  College  of  Moscow 
gave  the  impetus  for  taking  up  the  problem  of  industrial 
training  and  working  it  out  in  a  practical  way,  resulting 
the  next  year  in  the  establishment  of  workshops  for  in- 
struction in  connection  with  the  Massachusetts  Institute 
of  Technology  in  Boston.  In  the  workshops  of  this 
famous  school  there  still  hang  to-day  the  original  Russian 
models  of  the  3'ear  1876  and  remind  one  of  the  very  be- 
ginning of  the  practical,  technical  instruction  which  has 
since  made  such  remarkable  progress  in  America. 

The  next  important  step  was  the  introduction  of  this 
Instruction  into  the  high  schools,  that  is,  the  institutions 
which  nearly  correspond  to  our  Realschulen  and  are  in- 
tended for  the  training  of  the  youth  from  the  age  of  four- 
teen to  eighteen.  There  are  three  types  of  this  kind  of 
schools:  first,  the  classical  high  school;  secondly,  the  tech- 
nical or  manual  training  high  school ;  thirdly,  the  commer- 
cial high  school.  The  second  type  is  the  one  which  con- 
cerns us  in  our  discussion.  The  first  school  of  this  kind  was 
founded  in  St.  Louis  in  1879  through  the  influence  of  Dr. 
C.  M.  Woodward,  Professor  in  Washington  University. 


HISTORY  OF  EDUCATIONAL  HANDWORK.  61 

Since  that  time  their  number  has  increased  with  such  re- 
markable rapidity  that  as  early  as  the  year  1901  theie 
were  two  hundred  and  thirty-two.  In  a  number  of  the 
states  of  the  Union  it  is  required  by  law  that  every  town 
of  a  certain  number  of  inhabitants  shall  maintain  courses 
in  manual  training  in  connection  with  its  public  high 
school. 

Concerning  the  organization  of  manual  training  high 
schools  the  most  necessary  facts  will  be  given  later. 

Even  if  they  are  regarded  at  present  simply  as  institu- 
tions which  offer  general  training,  yet  there  is  an  obvious 
tendency  to  transform  them  into  preparatory  schools  for 
the  technical  college,  and  it  is  very  probable  that  in  time 
the  higher  technical  training  of  engineers  will  be  uni- 
formly regulated,  and  the  technical  instruction  of  the 
secondary  school  will  be  required  as  a  necessary  prepara- 
tion for  it.  On  account  of  the  high  esteem  in  which  the 
American  generally  holds  practical  efficiency,  and  on  ac- 
count of  the  peculiarity  of  the  conditions  there,  which 
makes  a  practical  apprenticeship  in  workshops  almost  im- 
possible, the  schools  must  offer  instruction  in  workshops  on 
the  largest  scale,  and  for  this  reason  it  is  everywhere 
highly  appreciated.  Moreover,  the  need  of  technical 
training  is  so  great  that  there  is  a  demand  for  it  in  every 
calling,  and  institutions  for  technical  instruction  meet  a 
pressing  need. 

But  from  still  another  direction  a  strong  impulse  has 
been  given  to  a  surprising  development  of  everything 
which  is  included  under  the  name  manual  training,  and  is 
felt  in  the  several  grades  from  the  elementary  school  to  the 
college.  This  second  source  of  strong  influence  in  favor 
of  manual  training  is  found  in  the  realm  of  pedagogy.     It 

5 


62  HANDWORK  INSTRUCTION  FOR  BOYS. 

is  known  that  the  most  important  auxiliary  science  of  ped- 
agoy,  psychology,  is  studied  in  no  other  country  so  zeal- 
ously as  in  America.  But  psychological  research  has  led 
to  the  fact  that  all  development  of  the  brain  and  of  the 
purely  intellectual  functions  is  dependent  upon  the  de- 
velopment of  the  senses  and  of  the  muscular  system,  espec- 
ially upon  the  training  of  the  eye  and  hand.  Therefore 
psychology  demands  a  thorough  consideration  of  the  ele- 
mentary technical  exercises  for  the  purposes  of  education; 
this  must  begin  in  the  kindergarten  and  in  the  elementary 
classes  and  must  be  carried  on  in  a  systematic  way  in  all 
the  grades  in  order  to  develop  the  intellectual  functions, 
which  are  inseparable  from  the  activity  of  the  hand. 
Moreover  the  social  and  economic  conditions,  which  have 
entirely  changed,  require  the  introduction  of  these  activities 
into  the  school,  because  the  complete  transformation  of 
the  entire  system  of  production  by  the  use  of  machines  and 
the  elimination  of  the  most  important  productive  work 
from  the  activities  of  the  household  and  their  removal  to 
the  factory,  have  caused  the  growing  child  of  the  present 
day  to  lose  a  great  many  educative  influences,  which  a 
few  centuries  ago  were  still  felt.  On  that  account  the 
education  of  the  school  must  include  these,  and  thus  make 
reparation  for  that  which  is  lost.  This  can  only  be  done 
by  the  introduction  of  practical  instruction  in  the  activities 
of  the  household  and  in  the  problems  of  the  workshop. 
Wherever  the  school  offers  this  kind  of  instruction,  not 
only  as  a  neu-  course,  but  as  a  principle  which  must  pene- 
trate through  and  embrace  all  instruction,  it  is  fit  for 
the  task  which  it  has,  or  ought  to  have,  in  the  social  life  of 
the  present. 


HISTORY  OF  EDUCATIONAL  HANDWORK.  63 

Arising  from  this  fact,  a  pedagogical  tendency  has  de- 
veloped which  seeks  the  development  of  a  form  of  training 
in  handwork  which  will  correspond  to  theory.  The  prin- 
cipal representative  of  this  tendency  is  John  Dewey,  and 
among  the  schools  which  are  built  upon  these  principles 
may  be  mentioned  especially  the  School  of  Education  in 
Chicago  and  the  Horace  Mann  School  in  New  York. 
Further  particulars  concerning  the  organization  of  these 
schools  w411  be  given  later. 

Along  with  the  two  tendencies  previously  characterized, 
which  are  based,  on  the  one  hand,  upon  the  exalted  ap- 
preciation of  technical  training  in  itself,  and  on  the  other 
hand,  upon  the  recognition  of  the  pedagogical  significance 
of  technical  exercises,  there  has  developed  in  the  practice 
of  the  American  schools  a  third  tendency,  which  to  a  cer- 
tain extent  keeps  the  middle  course,  and  tries  to  adapt  it- 
self to  the  technical,  without  forsaking  the  customary  school 
forms.  The  representatives  of  this  tendency  are  con- 
vinced of  the  value  of  instruction  in  work  and  are  at- 
tempting to  develop  it  in  the  schools  of  different  kinds, 
partly  in  connection  with  other  subjects  of  instruction, 
particularly  with  instruction  in  drawing  and  with  the 
practical  work  in  the  laboratories  of  physics  and  chem- 
istry, which  are  given  a  much  larger  place  in  the  Ameri- 
can schools  than  with  us.  The  branches  of  work  and  the 
methods  which  are  used  in  instruction  are  quite  numer- 
ous ;  in  some  respects  foreign  influences  can  be  recognized ; 
but  in  others,  independent  paths  have  been  followed,  for 
example,  in  New  York  where  in  a  number  of  public 
schools  the  experiment  has  been  undertaken  of  having  in- 
struction in  work  combined,  according  to  modern  prin- 
ciples, with  the  instruction  given  in  drawing,  the  founda- 


64  HANDWORK  INSTRUCTION  FOR  BOYS. 

tion  of  an  effective,  artistic  education.  The  unlimited 
freedom  which  is  afforded  the  American  schools  for  ex- 
periments, has  led  to  great  multiplic.'t_v  of  forms  of  in- 
struction in  work,  of  which  the  educational  exliibit  of  the 
different  states  and  towns  in  1904  at  St.  Louis  gave  the 
best  idea.  This  multiplicity  is  so  great  that  it  seems 
scarcely  possible  to  give  a  general  characteristic  of  the  in- 
struction in  work  carried  on  in  the  public  and  private 
schools,  but,  in  any  case,  it  is  worth  while  noticing  several 
figures,  which  have  been  ascertained  concerning  the  spread 
of  the  work.  In  the  year  1890  manual  training  was  car- 
ried on  in  the  schools  of  37  cities,  in  1901  the  number  of 
cities  had  risen  to  232,  and  in  1902  to  270,  and  since  then 
it  has  grown  in  at  least  the  same  progression.  In  the  year 
1901  there  was  spent  for  manual  training  in  163  schools, 
in  which  49,369  pupils  were  instructed  by  1,559  teachers, 
the  sum  of  $1,160,346.  Even  if  corresponding  figures 
from  European  countries  cannot  be  placed  over  against 
these  figures,  yet  their  language  is  in  itself  eloquent 
enough. 

If  we  still  try  to  find  the  place  which  instruction  in 
handwork  occupies  in  connection  with  the  pedagogical  ten- 
dencies now  standing  prominently  in  the  foreground  of  in- 
terest, the  attention  must  be  directed  particularly  to  three 
of  these  tendencies:  the  psychologic-pedagogic,  the  social- 
pedagogic,  and  the  art-pedagogic. 

That  these  three  tendencies  are  especially  worthy  of 
notice,  no  proof  is  needed  for  him  who  has  in  mind,  above 
everything  else,  the  practical  results  of  our  education. 
We  are  to  learn,  not  for  school  but  for  life,  and  all  train- 
ing should  tend  to  m.ake  the  person  useful  for  life.  For 
this  reason  it  is  necessary  to  test  all  aims  and  means  of 


HISTORY  OF  EDUCATIONAL  HANDWORK.         65 

education  by  asking  in  what  way  they  are  efficient  with 
reference  to  the  connection  between  school  and  life,  and 
with  reference  to  the  education  of  the  individual  for  be- 
coming a  member  of  the  social  community.  But  all  peda- 
gogues who  comprehend  education  from  this  point  of  view 
must  also  consider  whether  instruction  in  handwork  be- 
longs to  the  means  which  will  contribute  to  provide  a 
more  effective  training  and  a  better  union  of  the  school 
with  life. 

The  psychologic-pedagogic  tendency  is  endeavoring  to 
solve  this  problem  while  it  tries  to  conform  to  the  laws 
by  which  the  intellectual  development  of  the  person  is 
accomplished.  It  follows  up  the  impressions  of  the  senses, 
which  mainly  arise  through  activity  of  the  physical  organs, 
on  their  way  to  the  central  organ,  and  from  this  center 
it  follows  up  the  impulses  of  the  wuU  which  set  .the  crea- 
tive organs  in  motion;  it  arises  from  play,  which  for  the 
growing  person  is  the  natural  school  of  work,  and  it  tries 
to  direct  voluntary  play  into  regulated  but  often  weari- 
some work.  The  more  the  danger  exists  in  the  case  of  a 
majority  of  our  young  people  of  allowing  the  inclination 
for  physical  activity  and  the  joy  of  using  the  hands  to  be 
suppressed  because  of  unhealthful  conditions,  such  as  are 
caused  especially  by  our  life  in  large  cities,  and  the  greater 
the  intellectual  tendency  of  our  schools,  with  their  high 
aims  in  teaching  and  their  extensive  curricula,  claims  in 
a  one-sided  way  the  energy  of  the  youth,  so  much  the 
greater  becomes  the  need  of  instruction  in  handwork.  Its 
significance  in  education  is  especially  noticeable  in  cases 
where  training  is  made  particularly  difficult  by  intellectual 
and  physical  defects,  as  in  the  schools  for  the  feeble-mind- 
ed.    Here  the  psychologic-pedagogic  tendency  first  recog- 


66  HANDWORK  INSTRUCTION  FOR  BOYS. 

nized  the  value  of  handwork  as  a  means  of  training  and 
has  made  it  serve  this  purpose  to  a  high  degree.  The  ex- 
periences of  the  schools  for  defectives  are  gradually  carried 
over  into  other  fields;  attempts  are  made  to  diminish  the 
difficulties  of  instruction  especially  in  the  first  school  years 
by  utilizing  the  activities  of  the  hand  as  an  aid.  Thus 
we  see  a  return  to  the  ideas  of  Friedrich  Fröbel  who  made 
self-activity,  the  development  of  the  creative  powers  of 
the  child,  and  joy  in  work  the  main  thought  of  his  educa- 
tion. Without  doubt  further  progress  vvall  be  made  along 
this  line  and  constantly  new  systems  of  instruction  and 
more  advanced  methods  of  teaching  vi'ill  be  undertaken  by 
means  of  the  application  of  these  principles.  The  ten- 
dency, already  clearly  visible,  toward  a  transforijiation  in 
the  teaching  of  the  natural  sciences  according  to  the  in- 
ventive method,  in  which  experimenting  on  the  part  of 
the  pupils  themselves  is  a  vital  factor,  belongs  to  this 
movement ;  as  does  also  the  reform  of  instruction  in  draw- 
ing, and  that  of  instruction  In  the  modern  languages  which 
ignores  the  old  forms  of  grammatical  exercise  and  uses  a 
method  which  permits  the  pupil,  so  to  speak,  to  experience 
directly  the  spoken  language  and  to  acquire  it  by  speaking 
it.  It  is  evident  that  instruction  in  handwork  for  boys 
and  in  housekeeping  for  girls  corresponds  perfectly  to  this 
general  tendency  in  the  transformation  of  our  school 
curriculum;  indeed,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  Intro- 
duction of  the  workshop  into  the  school  is  the  beginning 
of  a  thorough  transformation  of  our  system  of  education. 
In  the  educational  exhibit  at  St.  Louis  there  was  shown 
in  a  series  of  artistically  arranged  transparent  pictures  the 
education  of  the  different  historic  periods;  the  gymnastic 
development  of  the  Greeks,  the  schools  of  the  middle  ages. 


HISTORY  OF  EDUCATIONAL  HANDWORK.  67 

those  of  the  philanthropists  and  of  the  great  educators  of 
modern  times  were  also  shown  b_\"  means  of  characteristic 
pictures.  The  last  picture  represented  education  in  the 
twentieth  century — not  a  school  class,  but  a  school  work- 
shop ;  not  a  school  for  study,  but  a  school  for  work,  the 
boys  working  with  saw  and  plane,  and  the  girls  handling 
sewing  materials  and  cooking  utensils.  Undereath  it  the 
words  were  written :  "Education  in  the  Twentieth  Cen- 
tury— Recognition  of  the  Necessity  of  Training  the  Eye 
and  Hand  as  well  as  the  Mind."  Herein  lies  the  kernel 
of  all  the  endeavors  of  the  psychologic-pedagogic  tendency, 
which  from  inner  necessity  requires  instruction  in  hand- 
work, in  whatever  form  it  expresses  this  demand. 

The  second  tendency,  the  social-pedagogic,  leads  in  a 
shorter  way  to  the  same  g'  al.  According  to  our  ethical 
ideas,  a  commonwealth  cannot  exist  without  the  work  of 
the  individual  in  the  service  of  the  whole,  just  as  a  gradual 
steady  development  of  humanity  is  not  conceivable  with- 
out serious  work,  which  is  performed  by  the  individual 
within  the  whole.  The  higher  the  culture  of  a  people, 
the  more  is  work  exalted,  and  it  is  certainly  not  a  good 
sign  for  our  German  civilization  that  in  our  education, 
training  toward  a  respectful  regard  for  work,  especially 
physical  work,  is  almost  wholly  lacking.  People  who 
are  ashamed  of  handwork  do  not  fully  comprehend  cul- 
ture. Education  which  inspires  respect  for  work  and 
a  will  for  work  is  a  direct  means  of  keeping  a  high  stand- 
ard of  culture,  because  it  compels  the  wealthy  to  share 
with  the  needy  in  efforts  to  obtain  culture  and  in  the  dis- 
tribution of  it;  and  even  the  commonest  laborer,  who  per- 
forms the  most  menial  service,  ought  to  have  the  con- 
sciousness that  he  is  doing  it  for  the  community  as  a  whole 


68  HANDWORK  INSTRUCTION  FOR  BOYS. 

and  that  by  means  of  that  work  he  is  gaining  for  himself 
the  place  to  which  he  is  entitled  within  the  whole.  "Edu- 
cation for  work"  and  "Education  through  work"  are  the 
two  cardinal  points,  around  which  social  pedagogy  finally 
turns.  The  greatest  thinkers  and  poets  of  all  times  and 
peoples  have  recognized  this  fact,  and  each  one  has  ex- 
pressed it  in  his  own  way.  The  Scriptural  exhortation, 
"Work  and  pray,"  places  work  on  as  high  a  plane  as  the 
injunction  of  our  Goethe: 

"Wem  wohl  das  Glück  die  schönste  Palme  beutf 
Wer  Freudig  tut,  sich  des  Getanen  freut !"^ 

But  the  most  majestic  song  of  work  has  been  sung  by 
Thomas  Carlyle,  the  words  of  which  run,  "There  is  a 
perennial  nobleness,  and  even  sacredness,  in  work.  The 
latest  Gospel  in  this  world  is,  know  thy  work  and  do  it." 

A  very  persistent  demand  for  instruction  in  handwork 
has  grown  up  in  the  course  of  the  last  few  years  along 
with  the  art-pedagogic  tendency,  which,  arising  in  the 
Association  of  Teachers  at  Hamburg,  has  been  widely 
accepted.  This  tendency  is  an  integral  part  of  the  civil- 
ization of  the  present  age.  And  since  it  has  been  recog- 
nized with  chagrin  how  devoid  of  art  our  people  have  be- 
come, an  attempt  is  being  made  to  usher  in  a  new  period 
of  artistic  culture.  The  Kunsterziehungstage  (Associations 
of  Art  Teachers)  have  made  the  solution  of  the  problem 
of  the  art  education  of  the  German  youth  their  task,  recog- 
nizing "that  the  art  feeling  of  a  people  can  flourish  only 

1  Upon  whom  does  fortune  bestow  the  most  beautiful  palm? 
He  who  works  joyfully  receives  the  greatest  pleasure  from  his 
work. 


HISTORY  OF  EDUCATIONAL  HANDWORK.  69 

when  we  awaken  the  art  faculties  of  coming  generations 
and  develop  them  as  much  as  possible."  For  "to  educate 
artistically"  means  not  only  "to  make  capable  of  appreciat- 
ing the  noble  joy  of  living,"  but  has  at  the  same  time  the 
thought  of  arousing  and  developing  the  artistic-productive 
powers  which  are  of  value  because  they  can  produce  some- 
thing worth  while. 

Experience  teaches  that  artistic  training  cannot  be  given 
by  means  of  lessons  in  the  history  of  art  and  by  lecturing 
on  works  of  art,  but  above  everything  else  it  must  be 
dene  by  attempting  to  bring  the  pupil  into  personal  rela- 
tions with  art.  This  comes  about  most  surely  by  his  own 
activity  in  some  field  which  stands  close  to  art  and  which 
leads  finally  to  art.  "Unless  we  are  convinced  that  mod- 
eling must  have  a  place  in  the  elementary  school,  we  shall 
secure  no  foundation  for  artistic  training.  The  concep- 
tion of  form  and  space  is  the  indispensable  foundation  of 
all  comprehension  of  nature  in  the  artistic  sense;  the  de- 
velopment of  form  concepts  at  home  and  in  the  school  is 
much  more  important  than  quiet  observation  or  even  pre- 
mature imitating  of  graphic  copies."  (Cf.  the  work  of 
the  art  historian,  Professor  Schmarsow,  Unser  Verhältnis 
zu  den  bildenden  Künsten,  Our  Relationship  to  the  Plas- 
tic Arts,  Leipsic,  B.  G.  Teubner's  Publication.)  As  a 
matter  of  course,  the  significance  of  drawing  is  not  de- 
preciated by  this  fact;  instruction  in  drawing  and  practi- 
cal work  complement  each  other,  and  whenever  the  re- 
formers of  instruction  in  drawing  point  toward  a  careful 
study  of  nature  as  the  foundation  for  the  entrance  into 
art,  their  efforts  will  be  followed  by  instruction  in  model- 
ing, which  completes  and  strengthens  the  instruction  in 
drawing. 


70  HANDWORK  INSTRUCTION  FOR  BOYS. 

It  is  not  the  purpose  of  the  school  to  train  artists,  but  to 
train  a  people  which  will  possess  under tanding  and  love 
for  the  creations  of  art.  That  is  certainly  a  task  of  the 
highest  significance  for  the  school.  At  one  time  a  strong 
feeling  and  a  real  demand  for  art  manifested  itself  in 
many  parts  of  Germany;  but  aside  from  a  few  pitiful 
remnants  which  have  been  preserved  here  and  there  it  has 
been  lost.  In  a  few  mountain  countries  works  of  artistic 
value  arc  still  to  be  found  in  the  homes  of  the  peasants, 
and  in  Lower  Germany,  likewise,  remnants  of  native  art 
still  attract  the  collector  and  friend  of  art.  But  the  great 
mass  of  the  people  has  become  entirely  alien  to  art,  and 
even  the  fundamental  technique  of  handwork  has  been  lost ; 
it  has  had  to  give  place  to  machine  work,  to  production  in 
large  quantities.  Instead  of  solid,  genuine  work,  we  find 
false  ostentation,  imitation,  and  trash.  Not  the  excellence 
of  work,  but  its  cheapness  is  the  desideratum,  and  with 
many  people,  even  in  the  circles  of  the  educated,  the  feel- 
ing for  good  workmanship  is  entirely  lost.  To  acquire 
this  feeling  again  and  to  win  back  art  for  the  people  will 
be  an  important  task  for  the  future.  The  first  thing 
which  must  be  accomplished  toward  this  end  is  the  train- 
ing of  the  perception  and  practice  of  the  eye  and  hand. 
Technical  work  must  be  recognized  in  its  true  significance 
and,  first  of  all  skill  must  be  striven  for,  because  "art"  and 
"skill"  go  hand  in  hand.  The  simple  technique  of  our  pu- 
pils' workshops  is  the  basis  for  technical  skill ;  the  boy  who 
has  worked  earnestly  at  the  planing  bench,  who  has  forged 
iron  and  has  modeled  clay,  will  have  acquired  not  only  a 
trained  eye  and  a  practiced  hand,  but  also  an  appreciation 
of  the  technique  which  is  adapted  to  the  material.  His 
eye  is  sensitive  to  the  harmony  of  conditions;  he  recognizes 


HISTORY  OF  EDUCATIONAL  HANDWORK.         71 

in  the  simple  form  the  purpose  for  which  it  should  be  used, 
and  in  the  solid  material  the  value  of  the  object.  Under 
these  circumstances  the  simplest  object  of  utility  become-. 
a  work  of  art,  as  the  pictures  and  wood  engravings  of  the 
old  masters,  of  Dürer,  Rembrandt,  and  many  others,  show 
clearly.  All  of  these  masters  had  arisen  from  handwork. 
In  fact,  art  rests  absolutely  upon  handwork.  The  best 
artists  of  the  present  time  have  seen  this  clearly  and  have 
turned  back  to  the  practice  of  the  pure  technique  of 
handwork,  so  that  Goethe's  thought  now  seems  to  be  ver- 
ified again:  "Allem  Leben,  allem  Tun,  aller  Kunst  muss 
das  Handwerk  vorausgehen,  welches  nur  in  der  Beschrän- 
kung erivorben  wird.  Eines  recht  wissen  und  ausüben, 
gibt  höhere  Bildung  als  Halbheit  im  Hundertfältigen." 
(Handwork,  which  is  acquired  only  in  a  limited  way,  must 
precede  all  life,  all  activity,  all  art.  More  culture  is  gained 
by  learning  how  to  do  one  thing  well  than  by  attaining 
mediocrity  in  a  hundred  pursuits.) 


CHAPTER  III. 

Instruction  in  Handwork  as  a  Means  of  Educa- 
tion Outside  of  the  School  and  in  Institu- 
tions OF  A  Special  Kind:  Pupils'  Work- 
shops^ Boys'  Homes,  Boarding 
Schools,  etc. 

One  of  the  most  important  instincts  of  human  nature 
is  the  instinct  for  activity.  It  expresses  itself  in  the  child 
in  many  different  ways:  as  caprice,  propensity  for  destruc- 
tion, and  mischief,  whenever  it  finds  no  satisfaction;  and 
as  a  valuable  aid  to  education  when  it  is  employed  in  the 
right  manner.  It  finds  its  natural  satisfaction  in  play, 
and  accordingly,  it  is  one  of  the  tasks  of  education  to 
develop  and  direct  the  instinct  for  play.  Gradually  then, 
work  which  is  systematically  arranged  will  have  to  take 
the  place  of  play.  With  the  close  relationship  of  play 
and  work  during  childhood,  it  must  not  be  overlooked 
that  certain  dangers  lie  in  the  complete  extinction  of  the 
differences  between  these  two,  even  if,  during  the  period 
of  childhood,  direct  opposites  do  not  exist.  The  child 
takes  his  play  with  thorough  seriousness,  and  he  is  never 
more  industrious  than  when  he  plays.  At  first,  then, 
play  and  work  are  of  equal  importance  in  his  education. 
But  one  difference  always  exists:  play  is  voluntary  and 
work  is  required.  The  true  art  of  education  consists  of 
taking  the  play  as  seriously  as  it  deserves,  remembering 
that  it  is  the  most  important  expression  of  the  child's  in- 


12 


HANDWORK  IN  SPECIAL  INSTITUTIONS.  73 

stinct  for  activity,  and  of  so  arranging  the  work  that  it 
will  be  done  by  the  child  with  the  same  joy  and  with  the 
same  zeal  as  play. 

When  in  education  we  speak  of  work  we  probably  think, 
first  of  all,  of  study,  of  head  work.  The  significance  of 
handwork  in  education  is  often  wholly  overlooked  and  in 
many  families  children  grow  up  who  never  experience  the 
blessing  of  handwork  in  itself.  The  importance  of  the 
influence  of  social  and  economic  conditions  in  this  respect 
has  been  taken  up  elsewhere.  Whether  the  school  is 
responsible  for  these  conditions  and  if  so,  how  far,  may  be 
set  aside  for  the  present,  but  the  dangers  and  injuries 
which  have  arisen  from  the  complete  neglect  and  disregard 
of  handwork  in  education  we  dare  not  overlook.  The 
history  of  pedagogy  teaches  us  also  that  none  of  the  great 
educators  have  overlooked  it,  even  though  each  has  had 
his  individual  idea  of  the  value  and  significance  of  in- 
struction in  handwork.  The  movement  for  the  introduc- 
tion of  instruction  in  handwork  into  education,  which  was 
ushered  in  by  Rousseau,  the  Philanthropists,  and  Pesta- 
lozzi, and  was  revived  in  the  second  half  of  the  last  cen- 
tury, has  led  essentially  to  a  development  which  has  made 
its  way  outside  of  school  education  and  has  expressed  itself 
in  private  institutions.  Yet  it  has  kept  its  pedagogical 
character,  partly  for  reasons  which  lie  within  itself,  partly 
also  because  the  beginning  of  th"  movement  lay,  fortun- 
ately, in  the  hands  of  teachers. 

In^-pired  and  aided  by  the  German  Society  for  Boys' 
Handwork,  which  was  organized  twenty-five  years  ago, 
schools  for  handwork  for  boys  have  sprung  up  in  all  parts 
of  Germany  which,  either  entirely  independent  of  the 
school  or  only  in  loose  connection  with  it,  give  opportunity 


74  HANDWORK  INSTRUCTION  FOR  BOYS. 

and  training  in  practical  activity.  Since  these  schools  for 
handwork  (pupils'  workshops)  number  at  present  about 
one  thousand,  and  many  of  them  have  hundreds,  in  fact, 
in  some  of  the  large  cities,  even  thousands  of  pupils,  their 
significance  in  the  education  of  the  German  youth  must 
not  be  underestimated. 

The  private  character  of  the  overwhelming  majority  of 
the  pupils'  workshops  offers,  aside  from  certain  disadvan- 
tages which  should  not  be  misunderstood,  above  everything 
else,  the  advantage  of  a  free  development  not  hampered 
by  bureaucratic  influences.  Therefore,  they  present  a 
rather  varied  picture  in  their  external  equipment  as  well 
as  in  their  curriculum,  methods  of  teaching,  subjects  of 
instruction,  etc.  At  present  the  following  subjects  of 
instruction  are  the  main  ones  offered :  elementary  hand- 
work; pasteboard  work;  work  at  the  planing  bench,  and 
other  exercises  in  wood,  especially  carving;  work  in  metal, 
and  in  connection  with  it,  the  construction  of  equipment 
and  apparatus  to  be  used  in  teaching.  Recently,  in  con- 
nection with  the  efforts  toward  training  in  art,  which 
have  already  been  mentioned,  modeling  has  come  more 
into  the  foreground.  The  significance  of  this  in  the 
teaching  of  drawing  is  universally  recognized  by  the  re- 
formers in  this  line  of  work.  However  different  the 
kinds  of  work  named  may  at  first  appear,  yet  the  same 
thought  lies  at  the  foundation  of  all,  and,  upon  this  their 
significance  for  education  depends:  instruction  in  hand- 
work is  to  develop  and  strengthen  the  talents  of  percep- 
tion and  observation  and  make  the  hand  capable  of  con- 
structing out  of  given  material  som.ething  which  will  serve 
a  definite  purpose.  Instruction  in  drawing  has  the  same 
end  in  view.      But  while  here  the  representation  executed 


HANDWORK  IN  SPECIAL  INSTITUTIONS.  75 

by  the  crayon  or  paint  brush  must  be  limited  to  a  flat 
surface,  instruction  in  handwork  has  at  its  command  much 
richer  material  for  representation.  The  material  which 
is  available  for  use  in  construction  is  quite  varied,  and 
offers  in  its  manifold  characteristics  an  abundance  of  mat- 
ter for  observation  and  instruction  which  can  be  supplied 
in  no  other  way.  The  tools  which  the  pupil  learns  to 
handle  are  most  diverse,  and  require,  therefore,  the  exer- 
cise of  groups  of  muscles  which  would  otherwise  remain 
inactive,  and  consequently  would  not  be  developed.  The 
making  of  the  objects  follows  in  the  course  of  time,  and 
stimulates  the  development  of  the  sense  of  form,  affords 
opportunity-  for  the  application  of  the  fundamental  prin- 
ciples of  mensuration,  and  for  the  development  of  indi- 
vidual skill,  upon  which  all  effective  work  depends. 
Every  boy  who  tries  it  will  find  that  the  construction  of 
any  piece  of  work  is  not  a  simple  and  easy  task,  and,  more- 
over, is  not  a  thing  which  can  be  accomplished  without 
consideration,  accurate  observation,  and  energetic  action. 
There  is  no  better  means  than  this  for  guarding  against 
the  undervaluing  of  handwork,  which  is  very  dangerous, 
and  also  for  developing  in  the  children  of  aristocratic  rank 
a  social  sentiment  which  must  express  itself  in  esteem  for 
every  active  and  capable  member  of  human  society.  The 
reproach  is  often  justly  made  against  our  school  educa- 
tion that  it  fails  in  training  the  pupil  to  respect  work, 
especially  physical  work,  which  is  often  only  held  in  scorn. 
The  American  attitude,  on  the  other  hand,  is  often  com- 
mended because  it  demands  that  no  one  be  ashamed  of  any 
work  whatsoever.  The  correct  valuation  of  practical 
work,  vxhich  exists  not  only  in  the  con-ciousness  of  the 
American  people,  but  has  long  ago  entered  into  their  sys- 


76  HANDWORK  INSTRUCTION  FOR  BOYS. 

tem  of  education  as  well,  gives  the  American  people  not 
only  a  moral,  but  also  an  economic  superiority  over  peoples 
that  fail  to  recognize  the  value  of  work,  especially  physi- 
cal and  handwork. 

Instruction  in  handwork  has  a  social  significance  in  still 
another  direction;  it  shows  the  pupil  repeatedly  his  de- 
pendence upon  others  and  gives  him  occasion  to  give  and 
receive  help.  Often  the  division  of  work  leads  to  a  sort 
of  partnership  in  work,  in  which  differences  of  rank  are 
quickly  forgotten,  and  it  offers  opportunity  for  the  devel- 
opment of  the  social  virtues — something  which  is  too  often 
neglected  entirely  in  our  age.  In  many  places  it  is  recog- 
nized as  a  particular  advantage  of  our  pupils'  workshops 
that  they  offer  to  the  children  of  different  rank  and  from 
schools  of  different  grade  the  opportunity  of  working  to- 
gether ;  and  moreover,  the  opportunity  of  learning  to  know 
each  other.  With  the  sharp  separation  into  social  classes 
which,  under  our  educational  system,  has  been  carried  out 
even  for  the  youth,  the  significance  of  pupils'  workshops 
even  in  this  respect  cannot  be  overestimated.  The  youth, 
at  any  rate,  should  be  spared  as  much  as  possible  the  divi- 
sion into  professional  ranks  and  classes  of  society  which  are 
unavoidable  in  later  life,  and  he  should  be  able  to  occupy 
himself  with  a  childlike  partnership  in  work  just  as  in 
play. 

The  vital  educational  force  which,  as  has  been  indicated 
in  previous  pages,  is  in  very  large  measure  characteristic 
of  instruction  in  handwork,  is  effective,  as  a  matter  of 
course,  not  only  in  the  pupils'  workshops,  but,  most  of  all, 
in  homes  for  boys,  boarding  schools,  and  similar  institu^ 
tions ;  especially  is  it  here  a  matter  of  directing  the  instinct 
for  activity  in  the  right  direction,  of  developing  the  will 


HANDWORK  IN  SPECIAL  INSTITUTIONS.  77 

power,  and  of  training  individual  characteristics  which 
are  of  value  to  the  person  in  life.  As  a  matter  of  course, 
this  can  occur  only  by  paying  attention  to  the  general 
principles  of  education  which  apply  to  all  instruction  and 
which  are  of  special  significance  in  instruction  in  hand- 
work for  boys. 

Above  all,  it  is  required  that  such  problems  be  selected 
for  each  grade,  as  correspond  to  the  intellectual  and  phys- 
ical ability  of  the  children.  Spending  too  much  time  on 
simple  exercises  would  be  a>  injudicious  as  proceeding  so 
rapidly  that  the  diflnculties  mount  up  and  exceed  the 
child's  powers.  The  introduction  of  new  tools  and  mate- 
rials must  proceed  step  by  step,  since,  according  to  experi- 
ence, the  new  always  offers  a  certain  charm  and  by  means 
of  it  the  interest  of  the  youth  is  sustained.  This  interest 
is  even  increased  by  choosing  objects  to  be  made  which  can 
be  completed  in  a  comparatively  short  time,  and  which, 
as  far  as  possible,  are  useful.  In  this  lies,  as  we  might 
remark  in  advance,  the  superiority  of  the  concrete  Swedish 
system  to  the  more  abstract  French  system,  in  which  the 
pupils  are  limited  mainly  to  the  making  of  objects  merely 
for  practice. 

In  the  construction  of  objects,  of  whatever  kind  they 
may  be,  a  purely  mechanical  imitation  (copying,  tracing, 
and  the  like)  should  not  be  allowed ;  on  the  contrary, 
every  thing  which  is  to  be  executed  should  be  indepen- 
dently laid  out  according  to  the  rules  of  drawing  and 
geometry.  Only  in  that  way  is  the  pupil  trained  to  an 
active  sense  of  form  and  space  and  only  thus  is  his  taste 
developed.  In  any  case,  an  effort  must  be  made  to  stimu- 
late him  to  thoughtful  work;  therefore  the  teacher  must 
not  give  any  more  help  than  is  actually  necessary  for  the 

6 


78  HANDWORK  INSTRUCTION  FOR  BOYS. 

sclution  of  the  problem.  The  customary  procedure,  still 
prevailing  in  our  pupils'  workshops,  of  giving  the  pupil 
the  form  and  size  of  the  object  to  be  made,  is  not  in  keep- 
ing with  this  requirement.  The  form  arises  from  the 
purpose  of  the  object.  From  this  the  conclusion  may  be 
drawn  that  the  simplest  form,  and  that  which  best  con- 
forms to  the  purpose  for  which  the  object  is  constructed, 
is,  as  a  rule,  also  the  most  beautiful.  In  any  case,  let  the 
pupil  be  encouraged  to  find  an  appropriate  form  himself. 
The  simplest  form  which  he  himself  finds,  has  doubtless 
more  value  for  him  than  the  best  which  could  be  given 
him.  Similar  principles  also  apply  to  all  decorative 
forms  and  ornaments  applied  to  objects.  Above  all,  it 
should  be  taken  into  consideration  that  an  ornament  may 
be  applied  only  where  there  is  really  something  to  adorn. 
The  customary  overloading  with  much  amateurish  art, 
which  in  accordance  with  the  principle  "Adorn  thy  home," 
endeavors  to  make  use  of  ornament  in  everything,  even  in 
inappropriate  places,  must  not  gain  ground  in  our  pupils' 
workshops  if  they  are  really  to  contribute  something  to 
aesthetic  education. 

The  general  principles  governing  instruction  in  work 
cannot,  however,  differ  essentially  from  those  of  other 
branches  of  instruction.  The  finished  object,  the  discus- 
sion of  which  is  aided  by  models  and  drawings,  will  alwa)'s 
form  the  starting  point  for  undertaking  a  new  problem. 
In  the  work  itself  the  chief  thing  consists  in  pointing  out 
and  in  improving  upon  previous  mistakes;  the  less  that  is 
said  while  at  work,  the  better.  Karl  von  Raumer  was 
perfectly  right  when  he  said  that  it  is  a  silent,  practical 
wisdom  which  dwells  in  workshops;  this  silent  wisdom 
must,  as  a  matter  of  course,  also  govern  our  instruction. 


HANDWORK  IN  SPECIAL  INSTITUTIONS.  79 

For  the  teacher  of  practical  work  it  is  not  the  principal 
thing  to  be  a  master  of  words.  "We  need  skillful, 
trained  hands  more  than  ready  tongues,"  as  Liberty  Tadd 
says. 

The  question  as  to  whether  instruction  in  handwork 
should  be  class  or  individual  instruction  needs  to  be  touch- 
ed upon  only  briefly  here.  As  a  matter  of  course,  the  more 
instruction  can  be  individualized,  the  more  easily  can  it 
do  its  work;  that  is  true  of  instruction  in  handwork  just 
as  of  any  other  kind  of  instruction.  But  that  is  not  say- 
ing that  it  cannot  be  carried  on  as  class  instruction.  This 
very  assertion  has  often  been  brought  up  as  an  objection 
when  the  question  was  raised  of  introducing  handwork 
for  boj^s  into  the  school.  We  shall  have  to  come  back  to 
this  objection  again  in  a  later  section ;  if  it  is  a  matter  of 
carrying  on  instruction  in  handwork  in  pupils'  workshops 
and  educational  institutions,  it  does  not  seriously  enter 
into  the  question,  since  in  institutions  of  that  kind  the 
sections  of  pupils  can  be  formed  in  a  way  that  is  best 
adapted  for  the  purpose  of  instruction. 

We  shall  turn  now  to  the  consideration  of  the  subjects 
of  instruction  suited  to  the  different  ages  of  the  pupils,  and 
keep  in  mind  particularly  those  which  have  been  recom- 
mended by  the  Institution  for  the  Training  of  Teachers 
in  Leipsic,  and  which  on  this  account  have  gained  for 
years  a  foothold  in  our  German  pupils'  workshops.  The 
German  Society  for  Boys'  Handu  ork  has  established  nor- 
mal courses  for  the  most  important  of  these  subjects  of 
instruction,  which  have  been  worked  out  by  experts  and 
based  upon  their  experience  in  different  places,  and  these 
offer  a  reliable  foundation  for  carrying  on  instruction. 
It  is  taken  for  granted  that  by  making  use  of  these  courses 


80  HANDWORK  INSTRUCTION  FOR  BOYS. 

one  is  not  to  consider  himself  bound  in  details,  but  rather 
to  utilize  them  in  a  sensible  adaptation  to  given  conditions. 

For  the  j'ounger  pupils  who  are  found  in  our  pupils' 
workshops — as  a  rule  those  from  six  to  nine  years  of  age 
— problems  in  elementary  handwork  are  suitable.  These 
form  a  transition  from  play  to  work  and  rest  essentially 
upon  the  gifts  suggested  by  Friedrich  Fröbel  for  the  little 
ones  in  the  kindergarten.  The  children  are  to  learn  first 
measuring,  comparing,  estimating,  cutting,  and  to  exercise 
the  hand  and  eye  by  means  of  the  simplest  things.  Paper, 
cardboard,  twigs,  and  thin  wood  for  fret-saw  work  con- 
stitute the  simplest  material;  scissors,  knife,  rule,  fret- 
saw, hammer,  and  pliers,  the  tools.  By  means  of  the  work 
the  fundamental  geometric  conceptions  (corner,  triangle, 
square,  etc.)  are  formed,  and  the  little  hands  are  prac- 
ticed in  making  simple  and  pleasing  forms.  It  is  evident 
that  of  all  the  kinds  of  activity  for  this  stage  modelng  is 
especially  suitable ;  that  is,  imitating  in  clay  or  plasticine. 
Children  who  are  left  to  their  instinct  for  play  select  this 
way  themeselves:  they  model  in  the  sand  and  knead  the 
moist  earth.  Our  pupils'  workshops  direct  this  instinct 
for  play  into  the  right  paths  and  utilize  it  as  the  founda- 
tion for  object  teaching  which  is  infinitely  superior  to  the 
customary  object  teaching.  Franz  Hertel  has  pointed  out 
the  way  to  it  in  his  work.  Der  Unterricht  im  Forinew 
als  intensivster  Anschauungsunterricht  (Instruction  in 
Modeling  as  the  Most  Intensive  Form  of  Object  Teach- 
ing, Gera,  Publication  of  Th.  Hofifman.)  We  shall  have 
to  come  back  later  to  the  significance  of  this  instruction  in 
modeling  and  the  service  which  it  can  render  in  the  first 
school  years. 

Work  in  paper  of  an  elementary  character  finds  its  con- 


HANDWORK  IN  SPECIAL  INSTITUTIONS.  81 

tinuation  in  the  work  in  pasteboard  which  is  adapted  to 
the  children  from  ten  years  on,  and  can  be  extended  up 
as  far  as  desired.  The  chief  value  of  this  work  lies  in 
training  in  form  concepts  (through  the  construction  of 
boxes  and  the  like)  in  practice  in  drawing  with  instru- 
ments and  in  the  formation  of  taste  through  the  selection 
of  good  proportions  and  colors  which  harmonize.  Pa>te- 
board  work  is,  moreover,  an  excellent  means  for  training 
the  pupil  in  accuracy  and  neatness. 

The  simple  woodwork  in  the  elementary  stage  is  a 
good  preparation  for  the  work  at  the  planing  bench,  which 
ought  not  as  a  rule  to  be  commenced  before  the  twelfth 
year  of  age,  since  the  difficulties  in  this  kind  of  work  in- 
crease in  every  direction.  The  material  is  firmer  and, 
therefore,  requires  a  greater  measure  of  physical  strength 
in  working  it ;  the  tools  are  more  varied  and  more  difficult 
to  handle.  Consequently  the  work  becomes,  according  to 
the  opinion  of  a  well-known  hygienist,  "gj'mnasium  work 
with  tools,"  in  which  the  work  is  not  done  with  physical 
strength  alone,  since  a  certain  skill  must  enter  in,  which 
is  necessary  in  handling  the  tool  in  a  way  that  is  best  suit- 
ed to  the  end  in  view.  In  this  work  the  hand  and  eye 
complement  each  other;  the  execution  remains  incomplete 
if  either  one  of  these  organs  does  not  meet  the  require- 
ments for  its  task.  Upon  this  rests  the  unique,  high 
value  of  this  work  which,  in  this  respect,  cannot  be  re- 
placed by  any  other  work.  Besides,  the  adaptation  of  the 
material  gives  the  pupil  an  opportunity  to  learn  to  know 
through  his  own  experience  the  relation  of  form  to  the 
structure  of  the  material.  After  gaining  this  knowledge, 
the  way  is  paved  for  understanding  the  most  important 
fundamental  laws  of  all  artistic  execution. 


82  HANDWORK  INSTRUCTION  FOR  BOYS. 

The  elementary  knowledge  of  the  simplest  forms  of 
wood  construction  which  are  so  fundamental  from  the 
technical  point  of  view,  is  also  given  in  our  pupils'  work- 
shops; likewise  an  understanding  of  the  aesthetic  motive 
which  is  called  into  service  in  the  decoration  of  simple 
pieces  of  work  by  means  of  staining,  coloring,  or  carving. 
If  the  principle  is  maintained  that  the  adornment  should 
conform  to  the  laws  of  true  art  in  handwork,  the  boy  will 
be  led  through  the  practical  work  to  a  correct  appreciation 
of  the  art  in  unadorned  handwork,  which  in  our  times  has 
been  almost  lost,  and  which  we  must  acquire  again  for 
future  generations. 

Consequently,  woodwork  proves  itself  most  valuable  in 
different  directions.  To  be  sure,  there  are  also  connected 
with  carrying  on  this  work  certain  difficulties  which  con- 
sist principally  in  the  fact  that  only  a  limited  number  of 
pupils  can  be  taught  at  one  time,  and  that  the  equipment 
of  the  workroom  is  tolerably  expensive.  In  places  where 
conditions  do  not  permit  the  expenditure  of  larger  funds, 
the  use  of  benches  for  planing  must,  therefore,  be  dis- 
pensed with  and  the  woodwork  be  limited  to  such  exercises 
as  can  be  performed  at  ordinary  work  tables  with  simple 
tools. 

Most  important  of  the  kinds  of  work  which  can  be 
done  with  this  equipment  is  carving,  which  to  be  sure, 
can  scarcely  claim  to  be  an  independent  form  of  technique 
in  itself,  and  yet  is  carried  on  in  many  places  as  the 
only  woodwork.  Chip  carving,  a  very  old  and  widely 
extended  form  of  decorative  work,  has  fallen  recently 
somewhat  into  disrepute,  not  without  reason,  since  it  has 
been  much  abused  by  too  frequent  application,  and  especi- 
ally in  forms  which  are  not  beautiful,  and  by  extreme 


HANDWORK  IN  SPECIAL  INSTITUTIONS.  83 

minuteness  of  the  carving.  It  is,  however,  falh'ng  into 
the  opposite  error  to  wish  to  do  away  with  chip  carving 
on  that  account,  for,  applied  with  moderation  and  skill, 
it  doubtless  produces  beautiful  effects,  which  can  be  in- 
creased by  the  use  of  surface  carving  and  line  carving. 
The  latter  forms  of  technique  offer  the  advantage  of  per- 
mitting also  a  limited  use  of  plant  forms.  As  a  matter 
of  course,  the  effect  of  the  ornamental  work  can  be  in- 
creased by  means  of  color  and  stain  or  it  can  be  com- 
pleted in  still  another  way;  for  example,  by  inlaying. 

The  relation  of  the  ornamental  work,  which  we  have 
just  mentioned,  to  instruction  in  drawing  must  not  be 
overlooked,  even  though  its  connection  with  instruction 
in  drawing  can  be  maintained  only  with  difficulty  in  work- 
shop instruction  carried  on  outside  the  regular  school. 
This  difficulty  arises  on  account  of  the  variety  of  the  prep- 
aration of  our  pupils ;  other  factors  also  enter  in  to  make 
the  difficulty  still  greater.  The  pupils  themselves  place 
value  upon  practical  w^ork  above  everything  else,  and  since 
their  participation  in  it  is  voluntary,  their  wishes  must 
be  respected  as  far  as  possible.  In  places  where  instruction 
in  handwork  is  fitted  into  the  curriculum  of  the  school, 
special  stress  must  be  placed,  as  a  matter  of  course,  upon 
the  innner  relation  of  it  to  the  instruction  in  drawing. 
As  a  subject  of  instruction  which  is  able  to  offer  especially 
valuable  services  in  this  connection,  modeling  should  be 
mentioned. 

Modeling  had  not  enjoyed  great  popularity  before. 
One  reason  for  the  indifferent  attitude  of  our  youth  to- 
ward this  kind  of  work  was  to  be  found  in  the  fact  that 
it  furnished  no  directly  useful  products.  But  doubtless 
the  prevailing  method  by  which  modeling  was  carried  on 


84  HANDWORK  INSTRUCTION  FOR  BOYS. 

contributed  to  this  result,  and  as  in  the  case  of  instruction 
in  drawing,  the  interest  of  the  youth  has  developed  in  an 
unexpected  manner,  by  the  introduction  of  the  so-called 
reform  method,  so  a  gratifying  change  in  the  application 
of  instruction  in  modeling  has  come  in  since  the  reform 
in  that  subject. 

Since  the  geometric  and  ornamental  forms  which  were 
formerly  used  have  been  given  up,  and  the  modeling  of 
objects  from  nature  from  the  very  beginning  have  taken 
their  place,  a  largely  increased  interest  in  modeling  has 
been  awakened.  In  the  Institution  for  the  Training  of 
Teachers  at  Leipsic  this  method  has  been  in  use  since  the 
year  1902,  and  the  results  obtained  from  it  are  so  con- 
vincing that  there  can  be  no  longer  any  doubt  concerning 
the  possibility  for  development  which  exists  in  instruction 
in  modeling.  For  closer  confirmation  of  this  assertion 
reference  can  be  made  to  the  reports  of  the  institution  just 
mentioned.  If  the  matter  is  taken  hold  of  correctly,  the 
introduction  of  modeling  into  the  workshops  for  the  youth 
will  be  established,  and  it  can  scarcely  be  too  urgently 
recommended  for  reasons  which  are  universally  considered 
educational.  No  other  activity  demands  In  so  high  degree 
a  feeling  for  form  as  modeling;  no  other  material  is  so 
plastic  as  clay;  and  in  no  other  work  does  the  hand  affect 
the  material  in  such  a  directly  formative  way.  The  im- 
portance which  modeling  has  in  general,  and  especially 
with  regard  to  particular  subjects  of  instruction;  for  ex- 
ample, with  reference  to  instruction  In  the  natural  sci- 
ences, cannot  be  too  highly  estimated.  (In  this  connec- 
tion see  T)ie  Bedeutung  des  Modellierens  für  den  natur- 
geschichtlichen Unterricht,  The  Significance  of  Modeling 
in  the  Instruction  of  Natural  History,  by  Dr.  A.  Pabst, 


HANDWORK  IN  SPECIAL  INSTITUTIONS.  85 

in  Natur  und  Schule,  Nature  and  School,  1905,  Number 
9,  Publication  of  B.  G.  Teubner  in  Leipsic.) 

The  technique  of  metalwork  has  been  developed  as  a 
subject  of  instruction  in  the  pupils'  workshops  and  has 
been  introduced  in  several  places.  But  even  the  material 
equipment  (arrangement  of  the  workshop  and  such  mat- 
ters) causes  manj'  kinds  of  difficulties,  and  the  work  can 
be  carried  on  successfully  only  with  older  pupils  under 
well-trained  teachers.  With  reference  to  the  educative 
value,  the  technique  of  metalwork  is  scarcely  inferior  to  that 
of  the  work  at  the  planing  bench.  The  resistance  to  be 
overcome  in  working  up  the  tough  and  firm  material 
makes  demands  upon  the  strength  of  the  boy  which  can 
only  be  met  by  an  energetic  will  and  a  skillful  hand.  But, 
on  the  other  hand,  the  characteristics  of  the  metals,  ap- 
pearing in  connection  with  the  work,  also  arouse  the  in- 
terest of  the  youth  to  such  a  degree  that,  almost  without 
exception,  they  esteem  this  kind  of  work  very  highly.  It 
is  necessary  only  to  suggest  the  operations  of  hammering, 
drilling,  soldering,  and  tempering  of  steel,  to  show  clearly, 
without  further  explanation,  the  value  of  metalwork  in 
the  education  and  training  of  the  older  boy,  since  these 
operations  offer  at  the  same  time  an  abundance  of  theo- 
retical teaching. 

Metalwork  can  be  developed  on  its  practical-technical 
side,  or  it  can  just  as  easily  be  brought  into  connection  with 
the  instruction  in  physics.  The  older  boys  who,  along 
with  a  knowledge  of  the  simplest  technique  of  metals, 
have  had  some  practice  in  working  with  wood  and  paste- 
board, can  be  successfully  trained  to  make  simple  physical 
apparatus  and  other  equipment  for  teaching.  By  this 
means  handwork  helps  the  instruction  of  the  natural  sei- 


86  HANDWORK  INSTRUCTION  FOR  BOYS. 

ences,  and  thus,  we  shall  be  led  to  the  necessity  of  making 
it  a  part  of  the  curriculum  of  the  school,  especially  of  the 
higher  school  and  the  Seminar  for  teachers.  Further 
statements  concerning  this  question  will  need  to  be  made 
in  another  place.  For  the  completion  of  the  foregoing 
exposition,  reference  will  be  made  briefly  to  several  points 
of  view  which  cannot  be  overlooked  in  making  up  our 
i\idgment  of  the  educative  value  of  skill  of  hand. 

The  greatest  value  is  that  of  accustoming  one's  self  to 
independent  thought  and  action,  a  thing  which  must  be 
required  of  everyone  who  wishes  to  complete  any  practical 
piece  of  work.  Unsuccessful  attempts  are  accepted  from 
no  one;  so  much  the  greater  then  is  the  joy  in  final  suc- 
cess. Without  careful  olanning  and  work  aiming  toward 
a  definite  goal,  no  satisfactory  result  can  be  reached. 
Even  in  deportment  strict  order  must  be  observed  and 
every  offense  against  this  avenges  itself.  The  greatest 
economy  in  the  use  of  material,  and  care  in  the  handling 
of  tools  is  enjoined  as  a  matter  of  course,  and  at  the  same 
time  quickness  of  perception  is  stimulated,  which  makes 
each  person  capable  of  helping  himself  in  the  most  direct 
way.  In  the  workshop  the  pupil  finds  recreation  after 
intellectual  activity,  and  a  stimulus  for  voluntary  achieve- 
ment. The  activity  of  the  workshop  is,  consequently, 
one  of  the  most  important  means  of  education.  To  what 
extent  and  in  what  way  it  is  to  be  organized  will  be  deter- 
mined by  the  given  conditions  and  can  therefore  not  be 
described  in  further  detail  here.  This  will  depend  essen- 
tially upon  whether  the  training  of  the  children  takes 
place  in  town  or  in  the  country,  in  the  family  or  in  an 
institution.  Training  in  institutions  depends,  moreover, 
upon  the  varied  character  of  the  pupils ;  for  example,  those 


HANDWORK  IN  SPECIAL  INSTITUTIONS.  87 

who  arc  deprived  simply  of  the  care  of  parent  (orphans' 
homes,  homes  for  boys,  institutions  for  protection  and 
training),  or  those  who  stand  in  danger  of  neglect  (rescue 
homes  and  institutions  for  compulsory  education),  or  those 
who  are  afflicted  with  physical  and  mental  deformities 
(institutions  for  the  deaf-and-dumb,  and  for  the  blind, 
and  institutions  for  idiots,  etc.) 

In  the  great  majority  of  all  these  institutions,  instruc- 
tion in  handwork  is  more  or  less  extensively  carried  on; 
several  of  them,  as  for  example,  the  Erziehungsheim  am 
Urban  (boarding  school,  "Urban,"  for  lost  children)  in 
Zehlendorf  near  Berlin,  which  is  excellently  conducted, 
are  thoroughly  organized  on  a  plan  of  a  training  school  for 
handwork.  Also  the  modern  Landerziehungsheime  (rural 
boarding  school)  of  Dr.  Lietz,^  and  other  similar  institu- 
tions in  Germany  (for  example.  Dr.  KapfE's  training 
school),  and  in  foreign  countries  (for  example,  Palmgren's 
Samskoloj  and  the  Swedish  workrooms,  the  American  vaca- 
tion schools,  and  the  institutions  for  training  of  negroes 
and  Indians,  etc.),  make  use  of  handwork  in  a  most  exten- 
sive way  as  a  means  of  education. 

1  This  school   is  of  the  type  of  the  one   at  Abbotsholme   in 
England. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Instruction  in  Handwork  in  the  School  (Schools 

FOR  Defectives,  Volksschule,  and   Higher 

School)  and  in  the  Seminar 

FOR  Teachers. 

The  consideration  of  instruction  in  handwork  "in  the 
school"  proceeds  best  from  the  school  for  defectives,  the 
youngest  member  of  the  system  of  the  Volksschule.  The 
school  for  defectives  deals  with  children  who,  on  account 
of  deficient  intellectual  capacity,  which  is  caused  by 
ph3'sical  deficiency,  are  not  fitted  for  the  school  for  nor- 
mal children.  Although  these  children  were  formerly 
abandoned  to  their  fate,  in  the  last  decades  special  atten- 
tion has  been  devoted  to  their  education  and  these  efforts 
have  in  general  met  with  success  in  training  them  to  be 
useful  members  of  human  society.  As  an  essential  means, 
without  which  the  attainment  of  the  goal  is  not  possible, 
instruction  in  handwork  is  recognized  and  consequently 
introduced  almost  every\vhere  into  the  curriculum  of  such 
schools.  The  conviction  that  it  is  indispensable  in  these 
schools  is  contantly  gaining  more  ground ;  theoretic  con- 
siderations lead  without  hesitation  to  this  conviction  and 
practical  experience  confirms  it. 

Imbeciles  or  children  who  are  actually  feeble-minded, 
along  with  a  deficient  development  of  the  organs  of  sense, 
frequently  show  disturbances  in  movement,  weakness  of 
muscles,  and  a  greater  or  less  lack  of  life  energJ^   By  this 


HANDWORK  IN  THE  SCHOOL.  89 

a  sufficient  amount  of  exercise  of  the  physical  organs  is 
hindered.  Through  this  lack  the  development  of  the 
nervous  system  is  injured,  for  the  development  of  the  brain 
and  nerve  paths  is  dependent  upon  the  activity  of  the 
muscles  and  nerves.  The  training  of  all  the  functions 
which  in  the  normal  child  have  developed  before  the  school 
years  by  means  of  play  and  other  activities,  has  remained 
so  far  behind  in  the  feeble-minded  child  that  the  instruc- 
tion entered  upon  at  the  beginning  of  the  school  period 
must  first  take  up  all  that  which  has  been  developed  in 
the  nornaal  child  before  the  school  age.  The  first  task  of 
the  instruction  of  the  school  for  defectives  will  be  to  equal- 
ize as  far  as  possible  the  deficient  development  of  the  phys- 
ical and  intellectual  functions  in  the  organism  and  to  re- 
move the  disturbances  which  have  been  caused  by  heredi- 
tary influences  or  by  unfavorable  environment.  The 
largest  part  in  this  treatment  will  have  to  fall  upon  the 
development  of  the  physical  side,  for  only  through  physi- 
cal activity  can  the  foundations  be  laid  which  are  necessary 
for  the  intellectual  development.  Through  the  exercises 
of  the  organs  of  motion  and  sense  the  brain  is  trained. 
If,  as  a  result  of  deficient  development  of  the  organism, 
the  inner  impulse  for  such  exercises  is  lacking,  the  stimulus 
for  them  must  be  supplied  from  outside.  The  instruction 
of  the  schools  for  defectives  must  begin  then  with  exer- 
cises for  the  organs  of  sense  and  muscular  activities  in  or- 
der to  create  in  the  first  place  a  foundation  for  the  further 
possibility  of  training. 

The  psychic  impressions  which  are  gained  through  the 
activity  of  the  phj^sical  organs  are  indispensable  for  the 
development  of  the  human  mind.  In  authenticated  cases, 
(Laura  Bridgman,  Helen  Keller,  and  others)    in  whom 


90  HANDWORK  INSTRUCTION  FOR  BOYS. 

the  inability  to  see,  hear,  and  speak  seemed  to  prevent  al- 
most any  possibility  of  further  intellectual  development,  this 
could  be  attained  only  through  th'-  exercise  of  the  muscu- 
lar sense.  The  muscular  sense,  that  is,  the  power  of  per- 
ceiving location  and  movement,  is,  on  that  account,  almost 
the  chief  sense  for  the  development  of  the  soul,  and  the 
more  this  is  rendered  difficult  because  of  the  natural  con- 
stitution of  the  child's  organism.,  the  more  must  the  de- 
velopment of  it  be  emphasized. 

Although  for  reasons  which  are  derived  from  the  laws 
of  development,  the  exercise  of  th:?  physical  organs  has  to 
begin  with  the  movements  of  the  larger  muscles,  yet  these 
soon  lead  to  the  development  of  the  finer  movements  which 
are  performed  by  the  hand  and  fingers.  But  the  train- 
ing of  the  hand  is  especially  important.  Let  us  first  con- 
sider the  development  of  sight.  It  is  only  by  means  of 
the  groping  hand,  which  assists  the  movement  of  the  eye, 
that  the  comprehension  and  distinction  of  surfaces  and 
bodies  become  possible.  (Goethe:  "Sehe  mit  fühlenderii 
Aug',  fühle  mit  sehender  Hand."  (See  with  the  feeling 
eye,  feel  with  the  seeing  hand ) .  In  order  to  train,  especially 
the  feeble-minded,  to  see  correctly,  the  hand  must  be  de- 
veloped by  means  of  a  series  of  exercises  which  force  the 
eve  to  activity.  Furthermore,  the  hand  must  be  consid- 
ered as  an  essential  organ  for  the  expression  of  thought. 
In  the  history  of  the  race  the  gesture  was  the  original 
form  of  expression  from  which  speech  developed,  and  if 
we  accept  the  theory  of  Baldwin  that  the  development  of 
the  spoken  language  is  connected  with  right-handedness, 
then  it  is  proper  to  refer  to  the  latest  utterances  of  Flech- 
sig: "We  can  even  now  say  with  reasonable  certainty,  that 
object  teaching  and  physics  use  constantly  both  lobes  of 


HANDWORK  IN  THE  SCHOOL.  91 

the  brain,  likewise  instruction  in  gymnastics  and  hand- 
work. On  the  other  hand,  everything  which  has  to  do 
with  spoken  language,  for  example,  writing,  reading, 
arithmetic,  etc.,  is  performed  mainly  in  the  left  lobe  of  the 
brain."  In  the  practical  work  of  the  school  for  the  feeble- 
minded, courses  of  instruction  in  handwork  have  proved  to 
be  necessary.  This  is  also  seen  from  still  other  points  of 
view.  For  if,  in  the  history  of  the  race,  the  training  of  the 
hand  preceded  that  of  speech ;  then  the  development  of  the 
hand  may  be  regarded  as  a  necessary  foundation  for  the 
development  of  speech.  Upon  the  activity  of  the  hand, 
then,  the  beginnings  of  casual  thinking  and  the  develop- 
ment of  the  will  are  dependent,  and  consequently  the  con- 
clusion may  ultimately  be  drawn  that  much  depends  upon 
the  training  of  the  hand. 

We  desire  to  refer  only  incidentally  to  the  practical  sig- 
nificance which  instruction  in  handwork  has  in  the  school 
for  defectives,  although  we  recognize  that  it  contributes 
essentially  in  training  up  the  feeble-minded  children  to  be 
useful  members  of  the  community. 

If  for  the  sake  of  connection  the  theoretic  reasons  pre- 
viously given  for  the  significance  of  instruction  in  hand- 
work in  the  school  for  defectives  could  not  be  omitted, 
then  its  chief  value  might  be  presented  by  means  of  a  few 
suggestions  with  reference  to  development  of  the  practical 
work  of  this  branch  of  instruction.  Handwork  has  al- 
ready been  attempted  in  many  schools  for  defectives. 
Whether  these  attempts  have  always  been  made  with  cor- 
rect insight  into  the  significance  of  instruction  in  hand- 
work in  the  pedagogy  which  concerns  itself  with  de- 
fective pupils  is,  however,  a  question.  The  zealous  pur- 
suit of  this  branch  of  instruction  has  probably  succeeded 


92  HANDWORK  INSTRUCTION  FOR  BOYS. 

more  for  other  reasons.  It  has  been  joined  as  a  special 
course  to  the  other  subjects  of  instruction  and  an  efifort 
has  been  made  to  bring  it  into  connection  with  them  with- 
out being  conscious  of  its  fundamental  significance,  which 
in  any  case  demands  that  it  must  stand  in  the  central 
place  of  the  instruction  of  the  school  for  defectives,  and 
that  through  it  the  foundations  are  to  be  laid  for  all  other 
branches  of  instruction. 

Exercises  for  the  larger  organs,  (gymnastics,  garden- 
ing, games  requiring  movement,  play  in  the  sand,  and  the 
like)  must  precede  the  instruction  in  handwork  and  must 
accompany  it  further.  Among  the  first  exercises  which 
are  particularly  well  suited  for  the  development  of  sight 
by  means  of  the  activity  of  the  hand,  is  the  modeling  of 
flat  surface  forms,  to  which  are  added  exercises  to  develop 
the  sense  of  color  (making  cakes  of  paint,  colored  domi- 
noes, etc.)  Laying  blocks,  drawing  from  models,  cut- 
ting, folding,  and  pasting  in  definite  forms,  weaving  with 
the  needle  and  plaiting  are  also  among  the  most  important 
exercises  for  this  purpose.  The  plaiting  forms  the  tran- 
sition to  the  representation  of  forms  which  are  used  later 
in  the  work  of  box  making,  construction  work  with  sticks, 
cardboard  work,  modeling,  basketry,  work  with  twigs, 
simple  pasteboard  work,  and  the  like.  For  the  girls, 
domestic  hajidwork  takes  the  place  of  many  of  these. 

It  is  not  possible  here  to  give  further  details  of  the  cur- 
riculum outlined  above,  and  for  our  purpose  it  is  prob- 
ably not  necessary.  The  special  conditions  under  which 
the  particular  schools  for  defectives  are  carried  on  also 
necessitates  an  adjustment  of  the  existing  curriculum  to 
the  needs  of  these  institutions. 

The  reasons  which  have  been  advanced  for  the  neces- 


HANDWORK  IN  THE  SCHOOL.  93 

s:"ty  of  instruction  in  handwork  in  the  curriculum  of  the 
school  for  defectives  can  also  be  directly  applied  to  the 
training  of  normal  children.  That  this  has  not  generallj 
been  done  up  to  this  time  proves  nothing  against  the  cor- 
rectness of  this  conclusion.  The  importance  of  the  in- 
stinct for  activity  is  probably  recognized  now  by  all  peda- 
gogues and  its  cultivation  as  one  of  the  m.ain  tasks  of  edu- 
cation during  the  first  school  years  and  beyond  must  be 
considered.  Many,  then,  who  clearly  recognize  and  lay 
stress  upon  the  significance  of  the  instinct  for  activity,  as 
soon  as  the  forms  of  instruction  have  to  be  decided  upon, 
come  to  the  atonishing  conclusion  that  the  cultivation  of 
this  characteristic  instinct  should  be  left  to  the  home.  The 
school  of  today  uses  only  seats.  Work  tables,  on  the 
other  hand,  and  space  for  work  are  considered  scarcely 
necessary  in  our  present  day  method  of  carrying  on  in- 
struction. It  is  a  school  for  learning  in  which  "instruction 
in  language,  through  reading  and  writing,  plays  an  im- 
portant role  from  ths  very  beginning,  and  not  instruction 
in  things  with  observation  and  the  making  of  objects." 
The  exercise  of  the  muscles,  natural  activity,  and  the 
motor  processes  in  perceiving,  thinking,  feeling,  and  will- 
ing, are  neglected.  Thus  the  intellectual  development  is 
greatly  injured,  and  this  system  is  the  cause  of  practically 
all  of  the  physical  injuries  and  those  relating  to  the  health 
which,  according  to  experience,  are  accustomed  to  appear 
during  the  first  school  years  and  are  included  under  the 
name  "school  diseases."  (Cf.  Dr.  Lay,  Unser  Schulunter- 
richt im  Lichte  der  Hygiene,  Our  School  Instruction  in  the 
Light  of  Hygiene,  Wiesbaden,  1904.) 

Many  admit  the  deficiencies  and  faults  of  the  instruc- 
tion of  our  first  school  years  without  hesitancy,  but  reply 

7 


94  HANDWORK  INSTRUCTION  FOR  BOYS. 

that  it  is  not  possible  in  our  large  school  bodies  and  ex- 
cessively crowded  classes  to  carry  on  efficient  instruction 
in  handwork  with  success.  That  the  objections  raised  in 
this  connection  cannot  hold  good  is  easily  shown  by  more 
accurate  information  and  an  unprejudiced  examination  of 
the  problem.  It  is  remarkable  that  the  German  Volks- 
schule is  the  only  school  which  has  absolutely  refused  to 
adopt  the  ideas  of  Fröbel,  yet  the  instruction  of  the  first 
school  years  should  be  based  upon  these  ideas.  The  com- 
mon schools  of  other  countries  have  accepted  them  and  to 
a  greater  or  less  extent  have  put  them  into  practice. 
France,  Switzerland,  and  in  a  still  higher  degree,  England 
and  North  America  offer  examples  of  this;  the  educational 
exhibits  of  the  World's  Expositions  in  Paris  and  St.  Louis 
were  most  instructive  in  this  particular,  and  when,  for 
example,  at  the  latter  a  state  of  the  far  west  (Utah) 
presented  an  educational  exhibit  which  emphasized  the 
principle  that  all  instruction  must  be  built  upon  the  ideas 
of  Fröbel,  then  any  further  discussion  of  this  fact  is  super- 
fluous for  him  who  forms  his  opinion  without  prejudice. 

As  a  matter  of  course,  the  instruction  in  handwork  of 
the  first  school  years  must  satisfy  the  general  demands 
which  may  be  made  upon  any  educative  instruction.  This 
implies,  in  the  first  place,  that  it  must  arouse  the  direct; 
active  interest  of  the  children.  This  condition  can  be 
easily  fulfilled  if  it  is  directed  toward  the  construction  of 
such  objects  as  are  connected  with  the  instinct  in  the 
child  for  play  and  with  his  previous  occupations.  Simply- 
to  perform  technical  exercises  at  this  stage  is  wholly  un- 
satisfactory ;  they  are  not  at  all  necessary  if  the  technique  is 
so  managed  that  it  offers,  particularly  at  first,  only  slight 
difficulties.    In  this  connection  it  should  be  stated  that  the 


HANDWORK  IN  THE  SCHOOL.  95 

use  of  tools  must  be  introduced  gradually  and  that  those 
which  are  employed  must  be  simple  and  inexpensive.  The 
material  must  also  be  simple,  inexpensive,  and  easy  to  pro- 
cure, and  the  kind  of  occupation  must  make  it  possible  to 
maintain  neatness  and  order  without  special  difficulty.  In 
mentioning  these  conditions  a  further  one  is  implied; 
namely,  that  the  process  of  instruction  shall  offer  no  par- 
ticular injuries  or  danger  to  the  health  (dust,  injury  with 
tools,  etc.) 

We  possess  forms  of  technique  which  meet  these  de- 
mands if  used  correctly;  for  example,  our  problems  in  ele- 
mentary handwork — modeling  in  plasticine  or  in  clay, 
simple  woodwork,  and  the  like.  Next  to  modeling,  to 
which  we  would,  for  well  considered  reasons,  under  all 
circumstances,  assign  the  first  place,^  tasks  in  paper  and 
cardboard  (weaving,  folding,  cutting,  etc.)  offer  very 
appropriate  occupations.  (Cf.  Über  Notwendigkeit  und 
leichte  Durchführbarkeit  des  Knabenhandarbeitsunter- 
richts auf  der  Unterstufe,  Concerning  the  Necessity  and 
the  Easy  Execution  of  Instruction  in  Handwork  for  Boys 
in  the  Lower  Grades,  by  Mittag,  Instructor  in  the  Seminar, 
in  Blätter  für  Knabenhandarbeit ,  1906,  Number  3.)  Ac- 
cording to  experiences  in  places  where  instruction  in  hand- 
work has  been  offered  under  the  above  mentioned  condi- 
tions, the  pursuit  of  the  work  in  classes  furnishes  most 
favorable  results  and  requires  an  expense  which  is  scarcely 
worth  mentioning.  Will  a  yearly  outlay,  which  amounts 
to  less  than  twelve  cents  for  each  child,  be  considered  a 
sufficient  reason  for  opposing  the  introduction  of  a  branch 

1  Cf.  Dr.  A.  Pabst,  Bie  Bedentung  des  Modellierens  (the 
Significance  of  Modeling)  in  Natur  und  Schule  (Nature  and 
School),  19^5,  Number  9,  Teubner,  Leipsic. 


96  HANDWORK  INSTRUCTION  FOR  BOYS. 

of  instruction,  the  significance  and  purpose  of  which  are 
for  every  other  reason  desirable? 

In  carrying  on  instruction  in  handwork  it  must  not  be 
overlooked  in  the  very  beginning,  that  it  has  the  closest 
connection  with  object  teaching,  and  instruction  in  draw- 
ing ;  attention  must  be  called  especially  to  the  fundamental 
work  by  Franz  Hertel,  Der  Unterricht  im  Formen  als 
intensivster  Anschauungsunterricht  (Instruction  in  Mod- 
eling as  the  Most  Intensive  Object  Teaching;  Gera,  Th. 
Hofmann,  1900.)  How  far  instruction  in  handwork  in 
the  first  school  year  can  be  brought  into  relationship  with 
instruction  in  writing  and  reading  cannot  at  present  be 
finally  determined ;  the  attempts  which  have  been  made 
concerning  it  at  least  justify  the  highest  hopes.  (Cf. 
Blätter  für  Knabenhandarbeit,  1906,  Number  2.) 

In  connection  with  the  establishment  of  instruction  in 
handwork  in  the  middle  and  upper  grades  of  the  Volks- 
schule, we  have  at  least  in  the  German, schools,  little  ex- 
perience to  rely  upon.  Some  time  ago  School  Adviser 
Springer  (died  1905  in  Bonn)  made  the  attempt  in  the 
schools  of  the  district  of  Neurode  in  Schleswig  to  unite 
instruction  in  handwork  (carving,  bench  work  in  planing, 
and  metal  work)  with  drawing  and  mensuration  in  the 
upper  classes  for  boys.  This  attempt  was  brought  about 
by  the  economic  distress  of  those  sections,  and  is  very 
worthy  of  attention  because  of  the  manner  of  its  execu- 
tion and  its  remarkable  results.  (Concerning  it  see  the 
Blätter  für  Knabenhandarbeit,  1903,  Number  12.)  Rec- 
tor Brückmann  in  Königsberg  in  Prussia  also  unites  wood- 
work and  pasteboard  work  in  the  upper  classes  for  boys 
with  drawing  and  mensuration  and  has  recently  supple- 
mented the  object  teaching  of  the  first  school  years  with 


HANDWORK  IN  THE  SCHOOL.  97 

handwork  and  drawing.  A  combination  of  instruction 
in  handwork  and  drawing  has  also  been  accomplished  by 
Instructor  Parthum  in  Glauschau  in  Saxony.  With  sim- 
ple means,  and  yet  in  a  many-sided  way,  Prof.  Kumpa  in 
Darmstadt  (died  1905)  sought  to  establish  a  union  of 
mensuration,  drawing,  and  handwork.  These  attempts 
have  been  continued  by  Instructor  Hilsdorf  and  by  School 
Inspector  Scherer  in  the  Volksschulen  directed  by  him  in 
the  city  of  Worms.  In  these  schools  his  efforts  have  been 
turned  toward  instruction  in  work  as  a  result  of  the  in- 
spiration aroused  by  the  German  Society  for  Instruction 
in  Handwork.  At  the  congress  of  this  society  in  1904  the 
attempts  above  referred  to  were  presented  in  a  definite  re- 
port. (Cf.  the  Report  of  the  Sixtieth  Congress  of  the  Ger- 
man Society  for  Instruction  in  Handwork,  at  Worms, 
1904,  Leipsic.)  Attempts  have  also  been  made  in  the  prac- 
tice school  of  the  Pedagogical  Seminary  at  Cöthen  in  Anhalt 
for  almost  ten  j^ears  to  carry  on  handwork  for  boys  in  all 
eight  grades  and  to  unite  it  organically  with  the  subjects  of 
instruction  in  each  individual  class.  {Blätter  für  Knaben- 
handarbeit, 1899,  Numbers  8  and  9.)  As  the  idea  of  in- 
struction in  handwork  has  for  centuries  had  its  advocates 
among  pedagogues,  and  as  it  has  made  its  appearance  in  all 
civilized  countries,  so  it  has  spread  at  the  present  time  in  all 
directions  and  assumed  very  different  forms  of  expression, 
which  have  by  no  means  been  exhausted  by  our  predecessors. 
Perhaps  an  illustration  from  natural  science  will  give  the 
clearest  idea  of  the  many-sided  development  of  instruction 
in  handwork.  In  countless  hues  the  ray  of  light  is  broken 
up  by  means  of  a  prism.  If  desired,  either  seven  or  three 
primary  colors  can  be  distinguished  in  it,  but  the  essential 
thing  is,  after  all,  not  the  color,  but  the  light — the  vibrating 


98  HANDWORK  INSTRUCTION  FOR  BOYS. 

movement  of  the  minute  particles  of  ether,  which  are  scat- 
tered everywhere  and  present  all  the  phenomena  of  the 
world  of  color.  Thus  the  essential  thing  here  is  not  the 
form  and  not  the  expression  of  the  idea  in  detail,  but  the 
idea  itselijthe  idea  of  releasing  the  inborn,  creative  pow- 


ers of  the  child  and  of  developing  them  through  activity, 
at  the  same  time  looking  upon  the  child  as  a  being  endoiu- 
ed  with  physical  and  intellectual  talents,  the  development 
of  ivhich  into  a  harmonious  perfection  must  he  the  highest 
task  of  education. 

"With  this  we  turn  back  to  the  goal  of  education  set 
forth  by  Pestalozzi,  from  which  the  Volksschule  of  the 
present  time,  in  consequence  of  its  one-sided  intellectual 
tendency,  has  departed  further  than  ever  before.  Not 
only  the  opinions  of  school  reformers,  but,  moreover,  the 
practical  knowledge  of  the  result,  or  rather  failure,  of  the 
training  of  our  Volksschule,  which  has  been  shown  in  the 
continuation  school  and  in  life,  proves  the  correctness  of 
the  judgments  which  have  been  uttered  in  this  regard. 

Naturally  no  one  will  be  of  the  opinion  that,  by  the  in- 
troduction of  instruction  in  handwork,  a  panacea  has  been 
found  for  all  the  evils  of  the  Volksschule;  but  it  is  at  least 
certain  that  this  school  needs  a  decided  reform,  and  this 
cannot  occur  without  taking  into  consideration  instruction 
in  handwork.  Therefore  this  is  given  its  proper  place  in 
all  proposals  for  reform  in  instruction  of  the  Volksschule, 
which  are  not  satisfied  with  superficial  patchwork ;  for  ex- 
ample. Prof.  Hagmann  in  his  work,  Zur  Reform  eines 
Lehr  planes  der  Volksschule  (Concerning  a  Teaching  plan 
of  the  Volksschule,  St.  Gall,  1904),  says:  "Instruction  in 
skill  of  hand  ofifers  advantages  for  the  education  of  child- 


HANDWORK  IN  THE  SCHOOL.  99 

ren  which  are  most  valuable.  Since  instruction  in  hand- 
work has  been  desired  by  the  most  widely  differing  com- 
munities, it  would,  therefore,  be  entirely  in  accord  with 
the  spirit  of  the  age  to  make  a  new  school  law,  by  means  of 
which  handwork  would  be  given  a  prominent  place  among 
the  school  studies."  In  the  Elementen  der  Erziehungs- 
und Unterrichtslehre,  (Elements  of  the  Theory  of  Educa- 
tion and  Instruction),  by  Prof.  Barth,  Leipsic,  1906,  he 
says:  "Instruction  in  skill  of  hand  is  without  doubt  indis- 
pensable in  intellectual  and  moral  development."  If  we 
cannot  agree  with  Barth,  that  handwork  shall  be  satisfied 
with  that  which  object  teaching  and  the  teaching  of  draw- 
ing can  offer,  because  the  result  of  handwork  assists  them, 
yet  we  can  support  his  statement  which  declares  that  "the 
pedagogical  and  didactic  power  of  handwork  has  not  up  to 
this  time  been  sufficiently  fathomed."  (Cf.  Barth,  Ele- 
mente der  Erziehungs-und  Unterrichteslehre,  page  498.) 

Whether  the  forms  ^^'hich  have,  up  to  the  present  time, 
been  worked  out  for  the  practical  execution  of  instruction 
in  handwork  in  Germany  and,  to  a  large  extent,  in  other 
countries,  and  which  have  been  in  some  measure  tested,  are 
absolutely  the  correct  ones,  we  do  not  say.  The  last  sec- 
tion of  the  book  will  give  an  opportunity  of  looking  at 
these  different  forms  more  closely.  He  who  will  not  pre- 
sume like  a  prophet  to  look  into  the  future,  will  have  to 
leave  it  to  the  future  to  give  its  final  decision  on  the  ques- 
tion. 

Very  much  of  that  which  has  been  said  above  concern- 
ing the  significance  and  the  possibility  of  carrying  on  in- 
struction in  handwork  with  reference  to  the  Volksschule 
can  be  applied  without  hestitancy  to  the  higher  school. 


100  HANDWORK  INSTRUCTION  FOR  BOYS. 

The  latter  suffers  in  a  still  greater  measure  than  the 
Volksschule,  from  the  same  fundamental  evil.  Therefore, 
it  can  be  helped  only  by  the  same  means.  The  training  of 
the  youth  to  independence,  the  necessary  direction  of  his 
powers  toward  that  which  is  clear,  practical,  and  import- 
ant for  life,  point  to  instruction  in  handwork,  which,  for 
these  reasons,  has  been  established  in  a  number  of  higher 
institutions  of  learning  in  different  German  states  and 
cities;  and  where  it  is  carried  on  in  the  right  way,  it  is 
estimated  at  its  true  value.  Even  though  it  is  still  actu- 
ally treated  at  times  as  a  stepchild  by  many  directors  and 
teachers — much  less  by  the  parents  and  pupils  themselves 
— being  given  the  lowest  place  in  the  rank  of  studies, 
standing  far  below  gymnastics  and  drawing,  and  not  even 
existing  at  all  for  the  majority  of  the  pupils,  yet  we  feel 
confident  that  even  this  stepchild  will  again  receive  the 
place  it  deserves.  The  reasons  for  it  are  too  manifold 
and  too  important  to  be  entirely  overlooked  for  a  great 
length  of  time.  Prof.  Ziegler  in  his  Allgemeine  Päda- 
gogik, (Leipsic,  Teubner,  1901),  comments  thus:  "On 
this  account   (that  is,  for  social  reasons)   it  is  already  a 

matter  for  congratulation  that  the  thought  is  of  late  con- 
stantly making  headway,  that  even  our  pupils  in  Latin  are 
to  learn  and  pursue  handwork.  They  will  then  see  that 
it  is  not  an  easy  and  simple  matter — nor  a  thing  devoid  of 
thought,  and  that  in  this  work  they  themselves  are  fre- 
quently surpassed  by  those  who  have  not  succeeded  on  the 
school  bench  or  who  belong  to  a  lower  school — simply  to 
the  Volksschule!"  And  the  philosopher,  Friedrich  Paul- 
sen, expresses  a  similar  opinion  in  his  System  der  Ethik 

(System  of  Ethics,  Volume  2,   page  50):     "Still  more 


HANDWORK  IN  THE  SCHOOL.  101 

recently  efforts  have  been  made  to  improve  the  manual 
skill  of  the  young  by  giving  them  an  opportunity  to  train 
themselves  in  the  use  of  tools.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that 
these  attempts  will  succeed.  Practical  skill  is  a  desirable 
thing.  I  am  convinced  that  at  least  ninety  out  of  every 
hundred  young  people  who  attend  our  higher  schools, 
would  find  more  pleasure  in  manual  labor  than  in  their 
school  exercises.  When  nature  formed  the  eye  and  the 
hand,  she  evidently  did  not  intend  them  to  be  used  in  the 
way  which  is  almost  the  only  one  known  to  our  pupils: 
that  is,  for  reading  and  writing.  The  Germans  used  to 
be  very  proud  of  their  mechanical  skill;  during  the  fif- 
teenth and  sixteenth  centuries  their  cities  were  renowned 
above  all  others  for  the  skill  of  their  artisans.  Leibnitz 
once  described  the  difference  between  the  French  and  the 
German  nature  as  follows:  'Frenchmen,'  he  said,  'make 
useless  things  which  are  simply  beautiful  to  look  at,  while 
Germans  make  things  which  not  merely  please  the  eye 
and  satisfy  the  curiosity  of  great  lords,  but  also  accom- 
plish something;  they  bring  nature  under  the  control  of 
art  and  lighten  human  labor.'  As  late  as  a  century  ago 
there  were  places  in  Germany  in  which  sailors  and  peas- 
ants spent  their  leisure  moments  in  carving;  at  present 
the  only  things  which  many  a  man  can  handle,  besides 
his  knife  and  fork,  are  his  pen  and  his  cigar.  May  it  not 
be  possible  for  us  to  return  to  our  first  love?  And  by  do- 
ing so  we  can  get  rid  of  the  new-fashioned  contempt  for 
manual  labor,  that  too  will  be  a  blessing;  indeed,  we 
should  not  regret  the  loss  of  some  of  the  idealism  which, 
in  imitation  of  the  ancients,  affects  to  despise  banausic 
work.  I  am  rather  afraid  anyhow,  that  we  are  not  mak- 
ing much  headway  in  Hellenizing  our  people,  and  per- 


102  HANDWORK  INSTRUCTION  FOR  BOYS. 

haps  we  have  less  reason  to  regret  being  honest  Germans, 
than  old  and  new  humanists  try  to  make  us  believe."^ 

Another  remarkable  utterance  of  the  same  scholar  is 
found  in  a  discussion  of  the  system  of  continuation  work : 

"The  public  care  for  the  training  of  girls  in  household 
arts  can,  in  the  long  run,  be  dispensed  with  no  more  eas- 
ily than  that  of  boys  in  all  kinds  of  skill  of  the  hand. 
Instruction  of  this  kind  could  be  regarded  as  lying  outside 
the  tasks  of  public  education  as  long  as  the  majority  of 
the  children  received  in  the  parents'  homes  the  first  train- 
ing in  domestic  arts.  The  families  of  working  people 
who  are  engaged  in  large  industries  in  our  great  cities 
fail  in  this  important  task  on  account  of  lack  of  time, 
ability,  and  opportunity ;  and  with  the  families  of  numer- 
ous office  emploj^ees  the  condition  is  not  very  different. 
So  arises  the  need  of  offering  thru  public  training  what 
the  home  can  nu  longer  adequately  provide.  The  sup- 
pression of  the  work  of  children  in  the  factories  is  cer- 
tainly justified;  but  the  indifferent  interest  taken  by  the 
state  in  this  matter  necessitates  that  the  development  of 
energy  for  work  and  skill  of  the  hand  should  be  included 
among  the  public  responsibilities.  In  order  to  bring 
about  a  reconstruction  of  healthy  family  life,  the  pos- 
session of  the  domestic  arts  on  the  part  of  the  woman  is 
of  great  importance.  A  skillful  hand  also  gives  to  the 
man  greater  freedom  in  choosing  a  life  work  and  free 
activity  in  his  leisure  hours." 

Along  with  these  reasons  which  are  mainly  sociological, 
there  are  also  specifically  pedagogical  reasons  not  to  be 
overlooked  by  men  of  the  higher  schools.      Ziegler  says 

^  Translation  by  Frank  Thilly,   published  by  Charles  Scrih 
ner's  Sons,  1900,  p.  476,  ff. 


HANDWORK  IN  THE  SCHOOL.  103 

again  in  the  Allgemeine  Pädagogik:  "Our  youth  occupied, 
often  overcrowded,  with  headwork,  is  assisted  in  two 
ways  by  this  (alternation  of  headwork  and  handwork). 
Further,  the  hand  and  eye  are  trained  by  it.  How  un- 
skillful are  our  pupils  in  Latin !  especially  the  most  in- 
dustrious, who  are  the  most  unskillful  of  all!  The  judg- 
ment of  the  unpractical  scholar  has  its  origin  here  and 
is  applied  then  for  a  lifetime  to  us  all  with  justice  and 
yet  with  injustice."  He  speaks  further  of  the  signifi- 
cance which  technical  work  has  for  the  knowledge  of  the 
laws  of  nature:  "One  learns  the  inexorable  value  of  these 
laws  only  when  one  is  thrust  against  them  in  his  work, 
when  the  brittle  material  offers  opposition  here  and  com- 
pels the  person  to  deal  with  it  according  to  its  laws." 
With  these  words  he  has  declared  in  general  principles 
that  which  has  been  discussed  in  detail  in  numerous  special 
works  of  the  advocates  of  particular  methods  of  instruc- 
tion in  the  natural  sciences  and  that  which  is  to  form  for 
us  now  the  starting  point  for  the  establishment  of  require- 
ments which  we  must  make  upon  the  Seminar  for  teachers 
with  reference  to  practical  (technical)  instruction. 

It  is  related  of  Faraday  that  according  to  his  own 
judgment,  he  was  not  able  to  understand  an  experiment 
completely  if  he  had  not  performed  it  himself;  and  Düh- 
ring  says  in  his  prize  history  of  mechanics  that  the  simplest 
experiments  which  one  makes  himself  have  more  value  in 
the  study  of  natural  science  than  the  complicated  ones 
which  one  only  sees.  If  one  is  compelled  then  to  admit  that 
he  finds  real  systematic  progress  in  all  kind  of  schools 
through  the  performance  of  experiments  by  the  pupils 
them.selves,  which  are  adapted  to  their  needs  (the  so-called 
"inventive  method"  which  has  already  been  worked  out 


104  HANDWORK  INSTRUCTION  FOR  BOYS. 

very  well,  especially  in  England  and  North  America)/ 
then  still  other  reasons  are  given  the  Seminar  as  a  profes- 
sional school  for  requiring  that  theoretic  instruction  be 
supplemented  by  practical  exercises  in  experimenting  and 
in  developing  skill  of  hand.  With  reference  to  instruc- 
tion in  physics  these  reasons  are  discussed  thoroughly  by 
Dr.  Pabst  in  a  program  of  the  Seminar  at  Cöthen  which 
appeared  in  1889,  Über  den  Physikunterricht  im  Lehrer- 
seminar (Concerning  the  Instruction  of  Physics  in  the 
Sejninar  for  Teachers.)  As  is  shown  there,  practical  exer- 
cises in  the  simplest  technique  of  physics  (work  in  metals, 
glass,  application  of  technical  work  in  wood  and  other 
materials)  are  entirely  indispensable  for  the  future  teach- 
er. Whether  we  regard  these  exercises  as  instruction  in 
natural  science  or  assign  them  a  special  place  under  the 
name  "educational  handwork,"  is  of  no  importance;  their 
chief  value  lies  far  less  in  the  requirement  for  the  general 
purpose  of  instruction  in  natural  science  than  in  their  sig- 
ificance  in  the  systematic  development  of  the  members  of 
the  Seminar.  They  constitute  a  most  essential  condition 
for  progress  in  all  efforts  which  tend  to  give  a  true  con- 
ception of  the  appearances  of  nature  by  means  of  the  appli- 
cation of  simple  teaching  material  which  is  well  adapted 
to  instruction  in  classes. 

What  has  been  previously  said  with  reference  to  instruc- 
tion in  the  natural  sciences  also  applies  with  certain  modi- 

1  Cf.  Dr.  K.  Fischer,  Der  riaturwissenschaftliche  Unterricht 
in  England  (Instruction  in  the  Natural  Sciences  in  England), 
Leipsic,  B.  G.  Teubner,  1903;  and  Dr.  A.  Pabst,  Beobachtung 
und  Experiment  im  naturioissenschaftUchen  Unterricht  (Obser- 
vation and  Experiment  in  Instruction  in  the  Natural  Sciences), 
Neue  Bahnen   (New  Paths),  1906,  Number  1. 


HANDWORK  IN  THE  SCHOOL.  105 

fications  to  the  instruction  of  other  branches  in  the  Semi- 
ar.  With  the  present  arrangement  of  the  curriculum, 
it  is,  to  be  sure,  impossible  that  handwork  in  the  Seminar 
should  receive  consideration  corresponding  to  its  signifi- 
cance, even  if  the  objection,  formerly  frequently  heard, 
that  the  introduction  of  instruction  in  handwork  would 
lower  the  aims  of  culture  of  the  Seminar,  needed  any 
refutation  for  the  expert,  who  is  acquainted  with  modern 
methods.  But  the  voices  are  loud  which  point  out  the 
necessity  of  a  thorough  transformation  of  the  institutions 
for  the  training  of  teachers,  and  at  the  same  time  point 
out  an  especially  important  task  for  instruction  in  hand- 
work. Here  again  it  is  Hagmann  who  takes  up  the  prob- 
lem most  thoroughly  in  his  work  which  appeared  recently, 
Zur  Frage  der  Lehrerbildung  auf  der  Volksschulstufe 
(Concerning  the  Problem  of  the  Training  of  Teachers  of 
the  Rank  of  the  Volksschule,  St.  Gall,  1905.)  Instead 
of  the  former  model  school,  in  which  the  members  of  the 
Seminar  could  only  obtain  a  small  amount  of  school  prac- 
tice, he  demands  the  connection  of  the  Seminar  with  an 
orphans'  institution,  in  which  the  workshop  is  a  real  neces- 
sity, for  in  the  Volksschule  of  the  future  no  phase  of  hu- 
man activities  will  be  fostered  more  zealously  than  those 
depending  upon  the  skill  of  hand.  The  Seminar  should 
increase  the  capacity  for  manual  w^ork.  It  should  open 
a  special  workshop  where  the  Seminar  student  is  tested 
as  to  whether  and  how  far  he  has  the  skill  to  take  hold  of 
things.  And  it  would  be  a  real  test,  for  he  who  shows 
himself  altogether  incapable  here  scarcely  has  in  him  the 
stuff  which  makes  a  teacher  of  the  Volksschule.  In  this 
roomy  workshop  we  place  the  student  with  permission  to 
work  at  the  bench.      Tools  of  all  kinds  lie  ready,  also 


106  HANDWORK  INSTRUCTION  FOR  BOYS. 

material  In  the  way  of  paper,  wood,  claj^,  and  metal  to 
be  worked  up.  It  is  supposed  that  the  member  of  the 
Seminar  will  here  acquire  the  ability  which  will  entitle 
him  later  to  supervise  instruction  in  the  handwork  of  the 
school ;  he  also  gains  an  insight  into  the  extensive  field  of 
manufacture  of  the  nation,  but  the  most  important  result 
is  that  talents  in  the  direction  of  skillfulness  are  unfolded 
which  until  now  have  remained  latent  in  the  people.  And 
in  fact,  the  high  degree  to  which  the  future  teacher  of 
the  Volksschule  can  arouse  in  the  pupils  the  instinct  for 
work  can  scarcely  be  estimated."  (Page  34  folg.  of  the 
above-mentioned  work.)  This  outlook  into  the  future 
opens  up,  in  fact,  an  immeasurable  perspective.  Instead 
of  the  educational  method  which  we  now  have,  a  method 
which  frequently  hampers  the  productive  energy  instead  of 
developing  it,  and  which  for  the  sake  of  a  conception  of 
general  culture  that  is  not  based  upon  reason,  injures  the 
health  of  our  youth  and  neglects  the  development  of  char- 
acter, the  essence  of  our  education  should  bring  about  a 
real  culture,  that  is,  a  development  from  within.  Then 
would  our  people  be  prepared  to  solve  the  culture  prob- 
lems of  the  future.  The  introduction  of  the  workshop 
into  the  school  is  the  symbol  of  the  changed  method  of 
education,  which  has  been  developing  slowly  but  surely. 
Perhaps  in  a  not  far  distant  future  the  statement  will  be 
true:  "Only  he  is  truly  a  teacher  who  teaches  the  secret 
of  work." 

But  before  this  perspective  becomes  complicated,  it  is 
probably  appropriate  to  direct  the  attention  once  more  to 
the  present  conditions  and  to  characterize  briefly  the  prac- 
tical development  which  instruction  in  handwork  has  had 
in  the  Seminar  up  to  the  present  time.     Of  the  attempts, 


HANDWORK  IN  THE  SCHOOL.  107 

partly  successful  and  partly  unsuccessful,  which  have  been 
made  in  different  places  to  carry  on  a  technical  branch  of 
instruction  with  the  voluntary  participation  of  the  pupils 
and  under  the  guidance  of  whatever  teacher  happened  to 
be  at  hand,  we  need  not  speak  in  detail.  Such  kinds  of 
instruction  in  work  are  not  only  worthless  in  themselves, 
as  has  been  shown  by  different  articles  which  have  been 
presented,  but  they  cannot  be  recognized  as  efforts  in  the 
direction  of  a  systematic  and  methodical  development  of 
instruction  in  work.  An  attempt  of  that  kind  presup- 
poses, at  the  outset,  a  required  course  of  instruction,  but 
must  at  the  same  time  fit  naturally  into  the  organization 
of  the  institution  concerned.  Such  a  plan  was  completely 
worked  out  at  one  time  in  the  Seminar  at  Cöthen,  which 
has  already  been  mentioned,  in  which  the  author  was  ac- 
tive in  the  middle  of  the  eighties  in  the  organization  of 
workshop  instruction  which  would  meet  the  needs  of  the 
Seminar.  The  necessity  of  something  of  the  sort  was  im- 
pressed upon  him  by  considerations  which  had  their  be- 
ginning in  the  systematic  treatment  of  the  branches  of 
natural  science.  The  practical  instruction  was,  therefore, 
intended,  first  of  all,  to  develop  technical  skill,  which  is  re- 
quired in  teaching  physics  and  the  related  subjects.  To 
this  class  belongs  primarily  a  certain  technique  in  working 
up  metals,  glass,  and  other  materials.  This  was  carried 
on  in  the  third  class  of  the  institution  having  six  classes, 
with  two  lessons  a  week  during  the  winter  semester,  but 
in  such  a  way  that  each  section  of  the  class  numbering 
about  thirty  pupils  had  only  one  hour  of  instruction. 
This  in3truction  sufficed,  with  the  aid  of  voluntary  work, 
to  complete  the  most  necessary  manual  exercises  which  are 
required  in  the  construction  of  simple  equipment  for  teach- 


108  HANDWORK  INSTRUCTION  FOR  BOYS. 

ing  the  natural  sciences  and  other  branches.  In  the  next 
higher  class  the  making  of  such  equipment  was  systemati- 
cally carried  on  in  a  lesson  once  a  week,  but  in  such  a  way 
that  the  pupils  were  given  a  certain  amount  of  scope  in 
the  choice  of  the  equipment  to  be  constructed.  For  since 
both  talent  and  interest  differ  greatly  in  individuals  with 
reference  to  technical  accomplishments,  the  best  oppor- 
tunity is  offered  here  for  individualizing,  and  the  more 
the  talent  and  inclination  of  each  student  in  the  class  are 
given  an  opportunity  to  develop,  the  greater  will  be  the 
interest  and  the  better  will  be  the  results.  Among  a 
large  number  of  young  people  there  are  always  to  be  found 
persons  gifted  in  technique,  whose  achievements  far  surpass 
those  of  the  others  and  who  are  on  that  account  inspiring 
and  original.  In  this  there  does  not  result,  as  is  often  the 
case  in  other  branches,  a  rivalry  which  from  a  moral  point 
of  view  is  often  not  without  objection,  but  rather  an  in- 
terest in  the  cooperation  found  in  the  work  and  in  the 
mutual  helpfulness  in  achievement.  Certain  processes  al- 
ways require  assistance  from  a  fellow  student  which  is 
gladly  given  and  received  on  both  sides.  Moreover,  in 
this  lies  a  valuable  educative  element,  of  which  one  can 
frankly  say  that  it  has  a  social  significance.  The  social 
significance  of  practical  instruction  can  not  easily  be  too 
highly  estimated,  because  it  contributes  more  than  any 
other  branch  of  instruction  to  guide  into  right  paths  the 
desire  of  the  youth  for  independence  and  freedom  by  un- 
folding his  individual  talents  and  inclinations  in  and  by 
directing  his  interest  to  serious  tasks.  These  awakened 
interests  prevent  a  waste  of  his  leisure  time  and  still  worse 
results  if  he  were  not  thus  guarded.  For  this  reason 
also  practical  instruction  in  the  Seminare,  the  pupils  of 


HANDWORK  IN  THE  SCHOOL.  109 

which  live  mostly  in  the  boarding  school,  is  of  spcxial  im- 
portance. 

But  the  chief  value  of  practical  work  lies,  as  has  been 
said  before,  in  its  significance  for  the  systematic  training 
of  the  members  of  the  Seminar.  The  result  of  the  in- 
struction in  work  in  the  Seminar  at  Cöthen  was  also  in 
this  respect  very  soon  noticed,  and  after  the  plan  of  or- 
ganization described  above  had  been  maintained  for  sev- 
eral years,  it  lead  to  an  extension  of  the  instruction  to  all 
classes  of  the  institution.  For  the  three  lower  classes  a 
practical,  technical  form  of  instruction  in  paper  or  paste- 
board and  work  in  wood  (problems  at  the  planing  bench 
and  carving)  was  introduced,  by  which  the  pupils  were 
so  far  prepared  that  they  could  soon  enter  upon  difficult 
problems  in  the  middle  classes.  But  the  introduction  to 
the  pedagogy  of  the  system  of  instruction  in  work  was 
reserved  for  the  upper  classes.  This  did  not  stop  with  a 
general  survey  of  the  history  and  theory  of  the  subject, 
but  was  directed  particularly  to  the  entrance  upon  the 
teaching  of  it.  In  this  the  practice  school  of  the  Sc/ni- 
nar  offered  a  fitting  opportunity,  and  after  instruction 
in  handwork  had  been  carried  on  in  this  school  for  two 
years  with  voluntary  attendance  of  boys  of  both  the 
upper  classes,  where  favorable  results  were  unmistakably 
seen,  the  instruction  in  1898  was  made  obligatory  for  all 
classes  of  the  practice  school.  The  subjects  of  instruction 
worked  out  for  the  different  classes  correspond  in  general 
to  those  published  by  the  German  Society  for  Boys'  Hand- 
work, and  consist  of  work  in  paper  or  pasteboard  and 
wood,  also  the  chip  carving,  while  modeling  received  as 
yet  no  definite  place,  but  was  limited  to  experimental 
work  in  the  different  grades. 


no  HANDWORK  INSTRUCTION  FOR  BOYS. 

It  would  be  going  too  far  to  follow  in  ck^tail  the  further 
development  of  instruction  in  work  in  the  Seminar  above 
mentioned.  Probably  a  later  day  will  fully  appreciate 
the  services  which  the  director  of  the  Seminar  at  Anhalt, 
Privy  Counsellor  Riimelin,  and  Professor  Blume,  Director 
of  the  Seminar,  have  rendered  in  this  respect.  (Cf.  the 
lecture  delivered  by  Privy  Counsellor  Riimelin  at  the 
congress  in  Kiel  in  1897,  Die  Verbindung  des  Handfertig- 
keitsunterrichts  mit  dem  Lehrerseminar  und  mit  der 
Volksschule,  The  Connection  of  Instruction  in  Skill  of  the 
Hand  with  the  Seminar  for  Teachers  and  with  the  Volks- 
schule.) We  cannot  yet  give  a  final  opinion  concerning 
the  entire  development  up  to  the  present  time,  but  we 
cherish  the  hope  that  it  will  contribute  essentially  to  the 
realization  of  significant  ideas  which  underly  instruction 
in  Vvork.  This  hope  is  the  more  firmly  established  since  the 
instruction  in  the  Serninar  at  Cöthen  rests  in  the  hands  of 
one  of  our  young  teachers  who  has  been  thoroughly  tested 
both  as  to  theory  and  practice  (Cf.  in  the  Blätter  für 
Knabenhandarbeit  articles  published  by  M.  Mittag,  In- 
structor in  the  Seminar  at  Cöthen.) 

Unfavorable  experiences,  which  have  occurred  in  several 
places  are  just  as  instructive.  When  one  is  in  a  position 
to  examine  them  more  closely,  he  will  nearly  always  dis- 
cover that  the  failure  has  been  caused  by  some  special  con- 
ditions; for  example,  by  lack  of  time  or  of  appropriate 
room  and  equipment,  by  unsatisfactory  training  or  lack 
of  interest  on  the  part  of  the  teacher,  etc.  On  the  whole, 
then,  these  experiences  prove  nothing  against  the  thing 
itself ;  they  only  show  how  the  success  or  failure  of  experi- 
ments in  turning  an  idea  into  practice  which  has  been  re- 
garded correct  in  theory,  often  depends  upon  peculiar  cir- 


HANDWORK  IN  THE  SCHOOL.  HI 

cumstances.      Here  again  the  thought  of  Goethe  is  applic- 
able: 

"Eines  schickt  sich   nicht  für  alle! 
Sehe  jeder,  wie  er's  treibe. 
Sehe  jeder,  ivo  er  bleibe. 
Und  wer  steht,  dass  er  nicht  falle."^ 

^  The  same  thing  is  not  suitable  for  all.  Let  one  watch 
how  he  ventures.  Let  another  be  careful  where  he  renaains, 
and  he  who  stands  that  he  may  not  fall. 


CHAPTER  V. 

Systems  and  Practical  Execution  of  Instruction 
IN  Handwork  in  Different  Countries  (Swed- 
ish Sloyd,  Instruction  in  Handwork  in 
France,  England,  North  America, 
AND  Japan.) 

The  perfection  of  the  theory  of  instruction  in  hand- 
work went  hand  in  hand  with  its  extension  into  different 
countries.  B)'  this  circumstance  a  fact  is  made  clear 
which  is  important  in  the  existence  of  education  and  cul- 
ture in  general;  namelj^,  that  the  character  of  its  develop- 
ment depends  upon  the  peculiarities  of  the  nation  con- 
cerned. Different  nations  have  tried  to  solve  in  vaiious 
ways  the  problem  of  instruction  in  handwork. 

It  was  taken  up,  first  of  all,  from  a  purely  theoretic 
point  of  view,  while  the  reasons  for  the  necessity  of  in- 
struction in  handwork  were  sought  in  different  depart- 
ments of  knowledge,  and  the  possible  forms  of  its  practical 
execution  were  derived  from  pedagogical  considerations.  In 
general  this  course  has  also  been  followed  in  Germany. 

Since  Pestalozzi  and  Fröbel  we  have  not  lacked  theo- 
retical discussions  concerning  the  necessity  and  kind  of 
instruction  in  handwork,  but  only  in  individual  cases  has 
anyone  decided  to  turn  the  theory  into  practice,  and  to 
determine  by  experiments  in  the  schools  of  different  kinds 
whether  and  how  far  instruction  in  work  can  be  practically 
carried  on.  In  other  countries,  on  the  other  hand,  numer- 
ous and  comprehensive  experiments  of  this  kind  have  been 

112 


SYSTEMS  IN  DIFFERENT  COUNTRIES.  113 

tried,  and  especially  does  the  United  States  present  an 
example  of  the  development  of  instruction  in  work,  based 
on  practical  experience.  Of  this  more  will  be  said  later. 
But  the  theory  has  not  been  neglected  there.  Through 
the  study  of  physiological  phsychology,  which  is  carried  on 
with  great  zeal,  the  theory  has  gained  an  accurate  founda- 
tion. At  the  same  time  instruction  in  work,  through  its 
practical  significance  resulting  from  economic  and  techni- 
cal conditions,  is  now  favored  by  groups  of  people  who 
perceive  the  best  security  for  the  progress  of  the  whole 
nation  in  a  development  which  accords  with  the  spirit  of 
the  age.  So  here,  as  in  other  countries,  the  reasons  given 
for  the  necessity  of  instruction  in  work,  growing  out  of 
purely  theoretical,  pedagogical  considerations,  frequently 
coincide  with  the  reasons  derived  from  the  practical  neces- 
sities, and,  on  that  account,  it  is,  in  general,  by  no  means 
an  easy  task  to  keep  these  distinct  lines  of  thought  separate, 
and  to  follow  the  conclusions  to  their  final  and  real  foun- 
dations. It  is  here  as  in  Nature :  from  a  small  seed  grows 
the  tree,  which  stands  towering  before  us  with  a  profusion 
of  branches,  foliage,  and  fruit.  From  many  hidden,  far- 
extending  roots,  it  draws  its  nourishment ;  with  wonderful 
circulation  its  sap  rises  from  the  soil,  is  assimilated  by  the 
sunlight,  which  streams  over  the  forest  of  leaves,  and  is 
changed  into  different  substances  which  the  tree  needs  for 
its  nourishment  and  for  the  formation  of  its  fruit.  And 
as  a  fruit  tree  gives  out  its  far-reaching  blessing,  so  does 
our  tree  of  instruction  in  work  bear  rich  fruit.  The  freer 
and  less  hindered  it  has  been  able  to  unfold  in  its  growth, 
the  more  air  and  light  it  has  received,  and  the  more  care 
it  has  had  bestowed  upon  it,  the  more  stately  has  it  grown, 
and  the  richer  is  its  fruitage  now.     And  as  trees  grown 


114  HANDWORK  INSTRUCTION  FOR  BOYS. 

from  seeds  of  the  same  kind  often  show  an  entirely  differ- 
ent form  and  are  very  unlike  in  their  fruit,  so  there  have 
arisen  out  of  the  same  pedagogical  ideas,  which  led  to  the 
development  of  instruction  in  work  in  individual  countries, 
different  forms  of  the  same  thing,  which  at  first  glance 
scarcely  appear  similar. 

To  compare  these  different  systems  of  instruction  in 
work,  to  present  them  briefly  in  their  development,  and  to 
go  back  to  the  simple,  primitive  forms  which  they  have  in 
conimon,  shall  be  our  further  task. 

Swedish  sloyd  rests  upon  an  exceedingly  definite  sys- 
tem. The  word  "sloyd"  means  general  skillfulness  of  the 
hand,  in  contrast  with  skillfulness  in  the  way  of  a  trade. 
The  idea  of  sloyd  can  include  handwork  in  wood,  metal, 
paper  or  leather  and  it  does  not  exclude  braiding,  weaving, 
and  painting.  However,  the  purpose  of  sloyd  is  never 
the  industrial  training,  but  always  simply  the  development 
of  the  physical,  spiritual,  and  moral  powers  of  the  child. 
Sloyd  acts  in  an  educative  way;  it  calls  into  play  indepen- 
dence, accuracy,  diligence,  and  perseverance,  upon  which 
the  character  of  the  individual  rests,  and  leads  to  respect 
for  work,  especially  physical  work.  The  models,  the 
making  of  which  forms  the  task  of  sloyd  instruction,  do 
not  constitute  the  purpose  of  the  instruction,  but  only  the 
means  to  that  end.  These  models  might  afterwards  be 
destroyed,  but  the  purpose  of  sloyd  instruction  would  be 
injured  as  little  as  is  the  handwriting  of  a  child  by  the 
destruction  of  the  copy  books  which  he  has  filled  during 
a  school  year.  By  the  use  of  tools  and  the  adaptation  of 
materials,  the  child  acquires  a  degree  of  dexterity  and 
knowledge  which  is  useful  in  life,  yet  it  is  not  even  in 
this  benefit  that  the  chief  value  of  sloyd  instruction  lies,  for 


SYSTEMS  IN  DIFFERENT  COUNTRIES.  115 

the  perfection  of  individual  attainments  by  each  pupil  is  not 
taken  into  consideration,  and  the  knowledge  gained  will 
V  be  forgotten  by  many  without  ever  being  put  into  practice. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  development  of  the  spiritual,  mor- 
al, and  physical  powers  is  of  lasting  value,  and  upon  this 
is  based  the  significance  of  sloyd  in  education.  In  this 
respect  it  cannot  be  replaced  by  other  studies  of  the  school, 
and  for  this  reason  its  general  introduction  should  b: 
demanded.  The  purpose  of  school  education,  which  is 
the  general  development  of  the  individual,  is  not  injured 
by  it.  ^Sloyd  is  not  a  branch  of  technical  training,  it  is 
not  training  for  industry  or  a  particular  trade ;  its  method 
must  therefore  be  shaped  accordingly;  it  must  harmonize 
thoroughly  with  the  principles  of  teaching,  and  the  teacher 
who  handles  it  should  not  fall  behind  the  teachers  of  other 
branches  of  learning  in  pedagogical  development.  It  is 
of  greater  importance  that  the  child  should  learn  to  be 
observing  and  active,  and  that  he  should  not  wait  till 
everything  is  explained  to  him.  V.The  teacher  is  to  show 
him  nothing  which  he  can  find  out  through'  the  exercise 
of  his  own  powers ;  he  is  not  to  talk  about  the  use  of  tools, 
but  to  use  them,  and  the  pupil  is  to  observe  how  he  uses 
them ;  he  is  to  consider  the  position  of  the  body  and  esti- 
mate the  amount  of  strength  which  is  necessary  for  the 
execution  of  a  certain  movement.  '  He  is  to  examine  v.ith 
the  eye  the  models  from  which  he  w^orks,  and  learn  to  re- 
produce them  in  a  drawing.  The  model,  as  a  concrete 
object,  forms  the  starting  point;  the  drawing,  as  something 
abstract,  comes  later  into  use;  and  not  until  the  children 
have  reached  the  highest  stage  shoidd  they  work  from  a 
drawing,  or  design  a  model  themselves.  To  require  the 
children  at  first  merely  to  do  exercise  pieces  would   be 


116  HANDWORK  INSTRUCTION  FOR  BOYS. 

wrong  from  a  pedagogical  point  of  view,  for  preliminary 
exercises  are  nothing  but  abstractions,  and  there  would  be 
danger  of  losing  the  interest  of  the  child  through  these 
wearisome  exercises,  thereby  diminishing  the  pedagogical 
value  of  sloyd.  For  this  reason  the  goal  of  sloyd  instruc- 
tion must  always  be  the  completion  of  a  really  useful  ob- 
ject, for  only  in  such  an  object  does  the  child  take  an  in- 
terest; preliminary  exercises  are  admissible  only  in  so  far 
as  they  make  possible  further  execution,  and  guard  against 
the  useless  waste  of  material. 

The  system  of  instruction  in  handwork  for  boys  which 
has  been  developed  in  France  is,  in  many  respects,  in 
direct  contrast  to  the  system  of  Swedish  sloyd,  which  has 
already  been  described.  The  French  instruction  in  hand- 
work does  not  serve  directly  as  a  preparation  for  a  trade ; 
it  has,  above  everything  else,  an  educative  character  and 
concerns  itself  with  simple  exercises  which  give  the  child 
a  certain  general  skill  of  hand  and  development  of  the  eye 
and  of  the  practical  sense.  The  foundation  of  all  hand- 
work is  drawing;  therefore,  nothing  shall  be  constructed 
which  is  not  based  upon  a  design  drawn  by  the  pupil. 
Drawing,  geometry,  and  arithmetic  are  the  branches  of 
scientific  instruction  with  which  the  practical  teaching 
must  be  connected.  Handwork  assists  the  development 
of  the  child  to  a  considerable  extent;  therefore,  every- 
thing should  be  eliminated  which  might  in  any  way  sug- 
gest a  trade. 

In  the  effort  to  do  this,  the  danger  has  not  been  avoided 
of  bringing  too  much  theory  into  the  instruction  in  hand- 
work ;  and  this  has  been  done,  as  a  matter  of  course,  at 
the  expense  of  practical  activity.  Even  for  the  first  school 
year  the  plan  includes  not  only  simple  exercises  in  folding 


SYSTEMS  IN  DIFFERENT  COUNTRIES.  117 

and  weaving,  but  also  an  understanding  of  the  meaning 
of  horizontal,  vertical,  pointed  and  obtuse  angles,  a  right 
angle,  quadrangle,  parallelogram,  trapezium,  cube,  pyra- 
mid, etc. — certainly  an  excess  of  theoretical  ideas  which 
can  in  no  case  be  justified,  On  the  other  hand,  modeling 
is  not  given  sufficient  importance;  only  at  a  later  stage  is 
more  attention  paid  to  it,  but  even  then  it  is  developed  in 
a  one-sided  way  in  the  direction  of  geometric  ornament 
by  adorning  rectangular  clay  blocks  with  geometric  fig- 
ures. Thus  the  French  system,  which  is  otherwise  clearly 
planned  and  excellently  worked  out,  can  by  no  means  be 
considered  entirely  free  from  objections.  {The  concrete 
Swedish  system  of  sloyd  is,  without  doubt,  to  be  preferred 
in  the  lower  grades. 

The  French  masters  of  method  themselves  soon  recog- 
nized this  weakness  of  their  system  and  tried  to  remedy 
it  by  the  introduction  of  objects  of  utility  w^hich  are  made 
along  with  the  exercises  for  practice.  An  authority,  at 
least  on  the  system  generally  used  in  the  elementary  schools 
of  Paris,  is  the  handbook  Le  Travail  manuel  ä  I'ecole 
primaire,  (Handwork  in  the  Elementary  Schools,  Paris, 
Belin)  by  Jully  and  Rocheron,  the  tw'o  inspectors  of  in- 
struction in  handwork  in  the  schools  of  Paris,  w^ho,  more- 
over, in  directing  the  courses  for  the  training  of  teachers, 
exert  a  great  influence.  In  general  the  instruction  is 
based  upon  the  following  systematic  principles:  the  tasks 
selected  must  be  adapted  to  the  phj^sical  powers  of  the  child 
and  must  take  into  consideration  the  exigencies  of  the 
school.  With  the  exercises  for  the  eye,  training  in  atten- 
tion, intelligence,  and  development  of  taste  are  united. 
Therefore,  those  exercises  are  preferred  which  take  into 
consideration   drawing   and    which    require   the   pupil    to 


118  HANDWORK  INSTRUCTION  FOR  BOYS. 

anahze,  estimate,  measure,  and  work  out  geometric  forms. 
Thus,  instruction  in  handwork  not  only  aids  in  the  teach- 
ing of  physics  but  assists  essentially  in  the  scientific  in- 
struction in  drawing,  geometry  and  arithmetic.  The 
work  of  the  first  three  school  years  is  carried  on  in  the 
class  without  the  use  of  special  workshops ;  from  the  fourth 
year  on,  handwork  is  conducted  in  pupils'  workshops, 
{Ateliers  de  travail  Jiianuel)  under  the  direction  of  a 
pedagogically  trained  master  of  handwork,  who  is  given 
an  assistant  teacher.  Sketches  of  the  work  have  been  pre- 
viously discussed  in  the  drawing  lesson  of  the  class  and 
have  been  worked  out  in  accordance  with  the  rules  of 
drawing.  Every  student  possesses  a  special  notebook  in 
which  each  lesson  is  worked  out  on  two  pages  according 
to  the  following  scheme:  first,  the  work  (material,  meas- 
uring, cutting,  etc.)  ;  secondly,  the  result  of  the  geometric 
observations  (for  example,  a  straight  line  as  the  shortest 
distance  between  two  points)  ;  thirdly,  the  drawing  of  the 
object  (geometric  figure  with  diagonals,  etc.)  ;  fourthly, 
the  application  (for  example,  after  a  discussion  of  hori- 
zontal and  perpendicular  lines  a  fence  is  drawn  or  a  model 
is  designed.)  In  the  work  of  the  shop  the  principal  impor- 
tance is  attached  to  the  handling  of  tools  and  to  careful 
ful  execution  in  the  technique.  The  materials  used  are 
wood,  iron,  and  clay.  As  a  matter  of  course,  during  the 
six  hours  which  are  devoted  to  thi"  work  each  week,  at 
least  two  branches  are  carried  on.  The  first  exercises  in 
wood  begin  with  the  square  and  forms  derived  from  it. 
To  these  are  added  the  equilateral  triangle,  the  regular 
hexagon,  and  the  octat>;on ;  later  joints  are  made  and  are 
used  in  the  construction  of  objects.  As  typical  objects 
which  are  made  in  the  first  year's  work  may  be  mentioned, 


SYSTEMS  IN  DIFFERENT  COUNTRIES.  119 

for  example,  a  cross  (croisillon),  a  yarn  winder,  a  panel, 
a  frame,  a  paper  knife,  and  a  letter  holder;  in  the  second 
year  are  added  a  clothes  rack,  ink  stand,  back  for  a  ther- 
mometer, little  chest,  etc.  The  first  construction  in  iron 
is  made  of  thin  wire,  which  is  worked  up  into  pleasing 
forms  of  adornment.  Then  thin  sheet  iron  is  made  into 
rosettes  and  ornamental  forms  by  means  of  the  file  and 
hammer ;  napkin  rings,  match-holders,  square,  letter  scales, 
etc.,  are  objects  which  are  made  in  the  next  higher  grade. 
All  the  exercises  as  well  as  the  use  of  the  individual  tools 
are  carefully  graded  according  to  the  technical  difficulties 
involved,  and  in  each  workshop  are  hung  on  rectangular 
wooden  boards  the  complete  course  of  instruction  arranged 
in  a  pleasing  form,  according  to  the  months  and  years,  so 
that  wherever  one  is  he  can  gain  an  insight  into  the  progres- 
sive  steps  in  the  work.  _,  In  the  year  1 900  one  hundred  and 
'  thirty-five  elementary  schools  in  the  city  of  Paris  were 
provided  with  a  completely  equipped  workshop,  while  a 
number  of  schools  possessed  still  more  extensive  equip- 
ment; the  total  cost  for  the  instruction  in  handwork 
amounted  to  346,300  francs  ($69,269).  More  complete 
equipment  is  found,  especially  in  the  upper  elementary 
schools,  which  are  attended  by  pupils  of  fourteen  to  twenty 
years  of  age;  the  equipment  of  the  workshops  as  well  as 
the  kind  of  work  has  a  direct  bearing  upon  the  future 
vocation  of  the  pupils.  In  the  trade  and  apprentice 
schools  this  specialization  is  naturally  more  sharply  drawn, 
a  necessity  which  with  the  high  standing  of  industrial 
development  in  Paris  is  never  overlooked.  There  is  no 
doubt  that  the  compulsory  introduction  into  the  French 
elementary  schools  of  instruction  in  handwork,  which  has 
been  in  force  since  the  legislation  of  1883,  has  resulted 


120  HANDWORK  INSTRUCTION  FOR  BOYS. 

not  only  in  a  clear  perception  of  and  strong  emphasis  upon 
the  general  educational  and  pedagogical  significance  of  this 
instruction,  but  also  in  consideration  for  its  importance 
in  industrial  training. 

The  place  which  has  been  assigned  to  handwork  for 
boys  in  the  English  council  school  and  the  position  which 
has  been  given  to  it  as  a  branch  of  learning,  can  only  be 
correctly  understood  in  connection  with  the  peculiar  ar- 
rangement of  the  English  council  school.  It  amounts 
essentially  to  this,  that  the  state  keeps  up  no  school  itself, 
but  simply  grants  appropriations,  the  amount  of  which  de- 
pends upon  the  kind  of  school,  the  branches  to  be  taught, 
and  the  number  of  pupils.  On  the  other  hand,  the  state 
does  not  even  prescribe  a  program  of  instruction  for  the 
schools,  but  leaves  the  arrangement  of  it  to  the  local  con- 
ditions. Only  reading,  writing,  arithmetic,  and  drawing 
up  to  a  certain  stage  are  made  by  legislation  required 
studies;  the  elementary  exercises  for  the  lower  grades  in 
handwork  (hand  and  eye  training)  and  also  the  instruc- 
tion in  handwork  for  the  upper  grades  (manual  training) 
belong  to  the  optional  subjects  of  instruction.  The  par- 
ticipation in  these  and  also  the  care  which  is  bestowed 
upon  them  by  the  school  is  essentially  dependent  upon  the 
appropriations  of  money  which  the  state  devotes  to  it. 
Since  handwork  for  boys  has  been  included  among  the 
subjects  of  instruction  which  are  provided  with  appropri- 
ations (in  1890),  a  rapid  and  constantly  growing  accept- 
ance of  the  new  branch  of  instruction  has  taken  place. 
The  appropriations  are  subject  to  great  variations  and 
local  differences,  amounting  probably  in  the  most  favor- 
able cases  to  about  $2.50  for  each  pupil  of  the  upper  class- 
es, so  that  if  one  hundred  boys  enroll  for  instruction  in 


SYSTEMS  IN  DIFFERENT  COUNTRIES.  121 

handwork,  the  school  will  hz  provided  with  $250.  For 
the  lower  grades  the  appropriation  is  essentially  smaller, 
about  seven  and  a  half  cents  a  year. 

As  the  "children's  classes"  {classes  enfantines)  of  the 
French  elementary  school  offer  a  course  preparatory  to 
the  first  real  school  class,  so  the  infant  school  in  the  Eng- 
lish council  school  is  provided  with  a  preliminary  course 
which  fits  in  an  excellent  way  for  the  instruction  in  hand- 
work which  comes  later.  The  infant  schools  are  organ- 
ized throughout  according  to  the  principles  of  Fröbel,  and 
consider  it  their  task  both  to  develop  the  talents  and  pow- 
ers of  the  child  in  a  fitting  way,  and  to  take  into  consider- 
ation especially  a  good  physical  development.  The  or- 
gans of  sense  are  stimulated  and  the  childish  inclination 
for  activity  aroused.  In  accomplishing  this  purpose  many 
exercises  of  the  system  of  Fröbel  are  extensively  utilized ; 
plaiting,  folding,  sewing,  knitting,  stick  laying,  stringing 
beads,  laying  strings,  and  exercises  In  distinguishing  forms 
and  colors  alternate  with  drill  in  language,  playing,  and 
singing;  modeling  in  clay  and  plasticine  as  well  as  draw- 
ing, plaj'S  an  important  part.  Even  the  rich  material 
equipment  of  the  rooms  for  instruction — utensils  and  black- 
boards, etc.,  indicate  that  abundant  opportunity  is  given 
the  childish  instinct  for  development  through  activity. 
An  insight  into  the  curricula  of  these  schools  is  exceed- 
ingly instructive.  Just  as  handwork  in  the  infant  school 
is  based  upon  a  carefully  thought  out  and  systematic,  pro- 
gressive system,  so  is  the  "hand  and  eye  training"  which  is 
carried  on  in  the  elementary  and  intermediate  classes  of 
the  council  school. 

It  concerns  itself,  first  of  all,  with  the  development  of 
the  power  of  observation  and  with  the  transmission  of  the 


122  HANDWORK  INSTRUCTION  FOR  BOYS. 

first  conceptions  of  space  and  number,  on  the  basis  of  self- 
activity  and  in  connection  with  object  teaching.  In  this 
connection,  the  development  of  the  hand  receives  due  con- 
sideration and,  of  course,  modeling  in  clay,  cutting  in 
paper  and  cardboard,  drawing,  coloring,  and  brush  draw- 
ing are  pursued.  In  many  respects  handwork  is  also 
brouglit  into  relation  with  theoretical  instruction.  In 
this,  modeling  offers,  on  the  whole,  abundant  opportunity. 
For  example,  the  pupils  make  a  model  of  the  course  of  a 
river  or  use  modeling  in  the  instruction  of  physics  or 
drawing.  Brush  drawing  is  employed  as  an  excellent  ex- 
ercise for  the  comprehension  of  form  and  the  development 
of  a  feeling  for  color,  and  problems  in  cardboard  are  as- 
signed with  reference  to  mensuration.  In  many  places 
where  the  system  of  "hand  and  eye  training"  has  been 
completely  carried  out  it  has  generally  been  extended 
through  the  first  four  school  years,  while  the  real  manual 
training  has  been  reserved  for  the  three  upper  classes  as 
in  the  higher  grade  schools.  This  is  the  case  particularly 
in  the  board  schools  of  the  large  industrial  cities,  but  the 
schools  of  smaller  places  also  are  frequently  arranged  for 
it.  The  instruction  is  in  general  imparted  by  a  class 
teacher  and  in  classrooms;  in  the  larger  classes,  as  a  rule, 
in  addition  to  the  main  teacher,  an  assistant  teacher  or 
pupil  teacher  is  employed.  The  school  authorities  have 
issued  carefully  worked  out,  systematic  directions,  by 
which  the  teachers  are  led  to  an  efficient  handling  of  the 
instruction;  they  lay  special  stress  upon  the  consideration 
of  general  educational  principles,  while  they  leave  much 
freedom  in  the  details  of  the  execution.  The  pupils  who 
have  passed  through  the  "hand  and  ej^e  training"  naturally 
enter  upon  the  actual  instruction  of  the  workshop  of  the 


SYSTEMS  IN  DIFFERENT  COUNTRIES.  123 

upper  classes  under  much  more  favorable  conditions  than 
those  who  have  not  had  that  kind  of  preparation.  In  the 
school  workshops  woodwork  is  mainly  carried  on;  and,  as 
a  matter  of  course,  in  larger  cities,  for  the  sake  of  econ- 
omy, so-called  "centers"  have  been  established,  which  are 
used  by  several  schools.  (London,  for  example,  in  1902 
had  one  hundred  seventy,  Leeds  sixteen,  and  Glasgow 
eleven  such  centers.)  The  buildings  in  which  the  work- 
shops are  located  resemble  on  the  exterior  our  Turnhallen; 
in  many  cases  they  also  contain,  in  the  advanced  schools, 
in  an  upper  story,  rooms  for  instruction  in  the  natural 
sciences.  The  workshops  are  so  arranged  that  several 
classes  can  work  in  the  same  room  or  in  adjoining  rooms 
at  the  same  time ;  they  are  well  equipped  with  all  kinds  of 
material  for  object  teaching,  collections  of  different  kinds 
of  wood,  models,  etc.  The  courses  of  instruction  are  ar- 
ranged so  as  to  bring  the  pupil  to  the  handling  of  the  most 
important  tools  and  to  an  understanding  of  useful  forms 
of  construction.  Frequently  in  the  lower  grades  of  this 
work  only  practice  pieces  are  made;  every  piece  of  work 
is  based  upon  a  drawing  of  it  which  has  been  made  by  the 
pupil.  The  instruction  is  carried  on  in  classes,  but  in  such 
a  way  that  the  talented  pupil  shall  not  be  held  back  on 
account  of  the  untalented  one,  this  practice  being  carefully 
observed  in  the  English  system  of  education.  Even  with 
reference  to  the  prescribed  courses  of  instruction  much 
freedom  is  granted  the  individual  schools.  In  the  higher 
schools  in  which  instruction  in  handwork  is  also  exten- 
sively carried  on,  it  is  frequently  made  to  serve  other  sub- 
jects of  instruction,  being  employed,  for  example,  to  make 
apparatus  and  instruments  which  are  used  in  the  instruc- 
tion of  the  natural  sciences  and  mathematics.      The  teach- 


124  HANDWORK  INSTRUCTION  FOR  BOYS. 

ers  of  manual  training  are  mostly  special  teachers  who 
have  received  their  training  in  special  courses.  In  con- 
ducting the  instruction,  the  deportment  and  zeal  of  the 
pupils  are  usually  all  that  one  could  w^ish.  In  the  larger 
cities  special  inspectors  are  appointed  for  the  organization 
and  oversight  of  the  instruction.  Centers  for  metalwork 
are  generally  provided  only  for  the  higher  schools ;  in  large 
factory  cities,  on  the  other  hand,  in  which  metal  industries 
predominate,  metalwork  takes  a  more  prominent  place  in 
the  school  workshop.  It  is  also  worthy  of  notice  that 
many  of  the  evening  schools  intended  for  voluntary  atten- 
dance are  equipped  for  shopwork.  The  work  in  these 
schools,  as  a  matter  of  course,  is  of  an  industrial  charac- 
ter and  exerts  a  great  influence  in  the  industrial  develop- 
ment of  the  growing  youth.  A  strong  accentuation  of 
all  practical  instruction  is,  on  the  whole,  characteristic  of 
the  entire  English  system  of  education  and  culture ;  this 
is  also  true  of  the  educational  institutions  for  girls  and 
women,  in  which  practical  activities — housekeeping,  cook- 
ing, making  clothes,  etc.,  enjoy  a  much  greater  popularity 
and  appreciation  than  with  us  in  Germany.  The  judg- 
ments which  are  pronounced  by  the  inspectors  and  leading 
schoolmen  concerning  instruction  in  work  in  the  compass 
of  the  entire  system  of  education  is  also  in  general  very 
favorable.  The  report  of  the  school  authorities  of  Bir- 
mingham in  1896  states:  "The  reproach,  which  until  now 
has  been  made  against  the  method  of  the  elementary  school 
that  (in  teaching  handwork)  it  was  in  a  one-sided  way  pur- 
suing simply  theory,  has  no  longer  any  foundation.  But, 
on  the  other  hand,  the  theoretic  instruction  does  not  suf- 
fer. It  seems  as  if  the  limited  time  for  instruction  is 
compensated  by  a  clearer  comprehension,  which  is  gained 


SYSTEMS  IN  DIFFERENT  COUNTRIES.  125 

by  the  united  activity  of  eye,  hand,  and  intellect.  I  am 
convinced  that  practical  handwork  exercises  a  distinct  ef- 
fect upon  the  whole  system  of  the  school.  It  helps  in 
raising  the  intelligence  of  the  school  children."  In  har- 
mony with  this  report,  it  is  also  emphasized  in  a  furthei 
report  by  the  president  of  the  school  authorities  that  a 
complete  alteration  in  the  attitude  of  the  teachers  toward 
instruction  in  handwork  had  taken  place  and  that  it  has 
become  a  favorite  study  both  of  pupils  and  teachers.  Be- 
sides, the  president  was  not  satisfied  with  these  expressions 
from  schoolmen  but  also  collected  evidence  from  a  num- 
ber of  manufacturers  and  tradesmen  of  the  city  of  Bir- 
mingham whom  he  gave  the  opportunity  of  thoroughly 
testing  the  instruction.  The  purport  of  their  opinion  was 
that  they  regarded  the  new  branch  of  instruction  as  a 
very  valuable  part  of  the  training  of  the  elementary  school. 
(H.  Bendel,  Der  Handfertigkeitsunterricht  in  Englischen 
Volksschulen.  Instruction  in  Handwork  in  English  Coun- 
cil Schools,  Zürich,  1901.) 

As  has  been  previously  indicated  at  different  times,  the 
efforts  for  the  advancement  of  instruction  in  work  can  be 
traced  back  essentially  to  two  main  tendencies.  The  one, 
which  is  determined  by  the  demands  of  life  and  by  the 
necessity  of  guiding  the  individual  efforts  in  the  direction 
of  industry  and  technique,  might  be  called  the  practical. 
The  other  has  its  source  in  the  province  of  pure  pedagogy 
and  is  based  upon  the  knowledge  that  developmnet  of  the 
intellect  of  the  child  is  only  made  possible  by  independence 
and  by  the  use  of  the  elements  of  culture  which  are  acces- 
sible to  him — in  realit\  then  by  the  simplest  technical 
work.  This  second  tendency,  which  urges  the  acceptance 
of  technical  work  as  an  indispensable  factor  in  education, 

9 


126  HANDWORK  INSTRUCTION  FOR  BOYS. 

is  called  the  pedagogical.  Both  tendencies  are  represented 
in  the  systems  of  education  of  the  different  European 
nations,  but  nowhere  do  they  exist  side  by  side  in  such 
distinct  form  as  in  the  system  of  education  of  the  Ameri- 
cans. 

A  glance  at  the  cultural  development  of  the  American 
people  makes  it  possible  to  understand  this,  for  if  the  state- 
ment is  in  general  true  that  the  national  characteristics 
of  a  people  are  mirrored  in  its  system  of  education,  this  is 
especially  true  of  the  American  people,  whose  cultural  and 
national  development  has  proceeded  in  a  characteristic 
way,  essentially  different  from  the  development  of  the 
peoples  of  Europe.  First  of  all,  the  high  estimate  of  the 
value  of  technique  and  its  extensive  application  for  all  pur- 
poses and  ends  is  characteristic  of  America.  Along  with 
that,  is  found  a  high  appreciation  of  the  technologist  and 
the  need  of  developing  technical  powers,  which  has  exerted 
a  decided  influence  upon  the  system  of  training.  Thus  it 
can  be  understood  how  the  manual  training  high  school 
was  developed.  This  school  is  thoroughly  characteristic 
of  the  American  system  of  education  and  for  it  scarcely  a 
parallel  can  be  found  in  Europe.  The  organization  of 
this  type  of  school  cannot  be  comprehended  without  fur- 
ther explanation ;  especially  is  one  liable  to  fall  into  the 
temptation  of  looking  upon  it  as  a  kind  of  industrial  or 
trade  school,  since  we  are  apt  to  confuse  it,  in  the  first 
place,  with  such  schools  on  account  of  its  peculiar  work- 
shop instruction.  But  the  American  insists  that  these 
schools  shall  be  institutions  of  general  culture  and  that 
they  shall  take  up  and  foster  shopwork  only  as  an  element 
of  general  culture.  They  are  connected  with  the  common 
school,  and  supplement  the  eight-year  course  of  training 


SYSTEMS  IN  DIFFERENT  COUNTRIES.  127 

with  a  four-year  course  of  study  which  includes,  as  a  rule, 
six  parallel  branches;  namely,  mathematics,  natural  sci- 
ence, the  English  language,  history  or  foreign  language, 
drawing,  and  shopwork.  About  a  quarter  of  the  entire 
time  of  instruction  is  devoted  to  shopwork;  in  the  upper 
classes  almost  a  third  of  the  time.  It  includes  chiefly 
work  in  wood  and  metal  done  in  workshops,  which  are 
fitted  up  on  a  large  scale  and  equipped  with  machinery. 
The  pupils  of  the  upper  classes  are  instructed  in  the  ele- 
ments of  the  construction  of  machinery.  In  many  schools 
the  construction  of  patterns  for  the  metal  castings  and  the 
pouring  of  the  metal  itself  find  a  place  in  the  curriculum. 
The  connection  of  handwork  with  drawing  is  preserved  in 
all  the  grades;  and,  whenever  suitable  teachers  can  be 
secured,  the  handwork  is  turned  in  the  direction  of  artistic 
development,  while  modeling  especially  is  fostered  and  is 
connected  with  forms  of  technique  which  prepare  for  artis- 
tic work — pottery,  wood-carving,  metalwork,  chasing,  en- 
graving, book  printing,  photography,  etc.  From  these 
suggestions  it  can  be  seen  that  the  manual  training  high 
schools  are  arranged  quite  differently  with  regard  to  or- 
ganization and  curriculum.  This  can  be  explained  thru 
their  extensive  application  to  local  needs  and  thru  per- 
sonal influence,  which  in  the  American  system  of  education 
may  be  exceedingly  effective,  since  there  is  no  central  con- 
trol and  great  scope  is  left  to  the  individual  states  and  cities 
in  the  organization  of  the  schools.  In  the  organization  of 
the  manual  training  high  school  the  future  technical  calling 
of  the  pupils  is  especially  taken  into  consideration ;  the  ten- 
dency arising  in  the  technical  colleges  of  making  them  ac- 
tual preparatory  schools  for  the  latter  is  recently  very  mark- 
ed.  But  they  are  still,  first  of  all,  institutions  which  serve 

9a 


128  HANDWORK  INSTRUCTION  FOR  BOYS. 

general  culture,  and  from  them  the  pupil  can  find  his  way 
to  some  practical  calling  or  to  a  literary  pursuit.  It  is  also 
contradictory  to  the  American  fundamental  conception  of  a 
system  of  education  to  have  a  road  of  training  lead  into 
a  blind  alley.  It  seems  to  him  that  the  best  kind  of  train- 
ing for  a  young  person  is  that  which  makes  possible  an  en- 
trance into  the  different  relations  of  life  and  the  different 
kinds  of  calling  without  laying  down  from  the  very  be- 
ginning a  definite  direction  which  must  be  followed.  In 
this  comprehension  of  the  term  lies  the  explanation  of 
the  great  popularity  of  the  manual  training  schools, 
the  number  of  which  has  risen  in  a  little  more  than  twenty 
years  to  almost  two  hundred  and  fifty;  for  their  equip- 
ment nearly  every  large  city  is  glad  to  make  a  consider- 
able sacrifice.  The  sums  which  are  expended  for  it  are 
so  large  that  such  willingness  for  sacrifice  can,  in  fact,  be 
understood  only  by  comprehending  the  high  estimate  of 
technique  and  thorough  insight  into  the  value  of  the  techni- 
cal in  education  which  exists  among  the  whole  people.  We 
should  like  to  say  frankly  that  the  ideal  of  training  held 
by  the  American  people  is  a  "modern-technical"  one,  and 
not,  as  with  us,  the  "classic-historic"  one.  So  it  is  not  sur- 
prising that  one  often  has  the  impression,  even  on  looking 
into  the  schools,  that  the  essential  purpose  is  to  build  up 
a  people  of  technicians. 

But,  as  has  been  said  before,  the  stimulus  for  placing 
great  stress  upon  the  importance  of  instruction  in  hand- 
work in  education  has  arisen  in  another  quarter,  namely, 
in  the  knowledge  of  pedagogy  and  psychology.  It  is 
known  that  psychology  is  fostered  in  America  very  zeal- 
ously. But  the  study  of  psychology  has  shown  the  sig- 
nificance of  the  activity  of  the  hand  in  the  development 


SYSTEMS  IN  DIFFERENT  COUNTRIES.  129 

of  the  brain,  and  the  practical  art  of  education  has  fol- 
lowed up  the  results  of  this  knowledge  and  has  built  upon 
its  foundation  a  new  system  of  education.  We,  who  are 
bound  by  strong  tradition,  do  not  at  present  dare  to  dis- 
turb the  forms  of  instruction  which  have  been  handed 
down,  even  though  we  may  admit  that  they  are  based,  to 
some  extent,  upon  unstable  foundations.  The  Ameri- 
cans have  boldly  taken  the  first  step  and  have  founded 
schools  in  which  manual  activity  forms  the  central  point 
of  all  school  work  and  the  starting  point  of  all  instruction. 
One  of  the  main  advocates  of  the  pedagogical  tendency 
which  now  comes  up  for  consideration  is  John  Dewey, 
formerly  active  at  the  University  of  Chicago,  where  he 
founded  and  directed  the  School  of  Education.  For  the 
past  two  3'ears  he  has  been  effective  in  the  Teachers  Col- 
lege which  is  connected  with  Columbia  University  in  New 
York  City,  and  in  the  experiment  and  practice  school  of 
this  great  institution,  the  Horace  Mann  School.  The 
main  ideas  of  his  system  of  education  have  been  embodied 
by  him  in  different  works,  among  which  the  lectures  on 
the  theme,  School  and  Society,  have  appeared  in  a  Ger- 
man translation  by  E.  Gurlitt  (Berlin,  Walther's  Publica- 
tion, 1905.)  It  is  characteristic  that  Dewey  renounces  all 
the  pedagogical  theories  which  are  our  standards  as  some- 
thing fundamentally  worn  out;  of  the  German  pedagogues 
he  mentions  only  Fröbel,  and,  like  the  latter,  he  builds  up 
his  system  of  education  upon  the  activity  of  the  child.  The 
school  of  former  times  treated  the  child  as  if  he  were  "in 
the  first  place  a  listening  creature."  Mere  passivity,  how- 
ever, is  not  natural  to  him,  but  activity.  Dewey  gives  four 
\  instincts  which  the  school  must  not  suppress,  but  develop : 
the  communicative  instinct,  the  instinct  for  investigation, 


130  HANDWORK  INSTRUCTION  FOR  BOYS. 

the  constructive  instinct,  and  the  art  instinct.  While  the 
former  school  began  with  reading,  writing,  and  arithmetic, 
thus  with  accomplishments  which  were,  first  of  all  without 
interest  for  the  child,  we  must  on  the  contrary  begin  with 
creative  activities  and  repeat  with  the  child  the  course  of 
humanity.  As  humanity  begins  its  life  with  the  procur- 
ing of  nourishment  and  clothing,  so  must  the  child  begin 
with  the  knowledge  of  the  plants  which  give  us  nourish- 
ment and  clothing  and  with  the  explanation  of  the  pro- 
cesses of  work  which  belong  to  them,  cooking,  spinning, 
and  weaving.  With  this  work  the  foundation  is  laid  for 
history  as  well  as  for  the  natural  sciences,  for  "the  entire 
history  of  humanity  can  be  comprised  in  the  course  of 
development  which  the  fibers  of  flax,  cotton,  and  wool 
undergo."  As  children  in  their  play  turn  back  wholly 
of  their  own  accord  to  the  technique  of  primitive  times  in 
building  huts  and  imitating  the  hunt  with  bow  and  arrow, 
so  the  foundation  for  history  and  natural  science  must 
be  laid  by  means  of  technical  work.  Only  in  this  way 
can  the  school  foster  the  activities  which  have  previously 
been  mentioned  and  become  a  real  place  of  education. 
The  technical  work  in  wood  and  metal,  weaving,  sewing, 
and  cooking  must  become  a  part  of  the  plan  of  education 
as  if  they  constituted  the  purpose  of  life  and  were  not 
simply  assigned  branches  of  study  instruction.  They 
must  be  a  means  thru  which  the  school  itself  is  made 
a  natural  part  of  the  whole  life,  while  it  is  now  only  a 
place  lying  at  one  side  in  which  one  only  has  his  lessons 
to  learn.  If  our  education  is  to  be  of  any  significance 
whatever  in  our  life,  it  must  go  through  as  radical  a 
transformation  as  that  which  our  social  life  has  experi- 
enced.    This  transformation  is  even  now  in  progress,  and 


SYSTEMS  IN  DIFFERENT  COUNTRIES.  131 

the  new  arrangements  in  our  school  activities  are  signs 
and  proofs  of  a  development  of  this  kind.  If  we  make 
our  school  a  community  on  a  small  scale  in  which  the  in- 
dividual members  are  engaged  in  practical  work  and  are 
equipped  with  the  spirit  of  obedience  and  the  strength  of 
self-master}',  then  the  best  guarantees  are  given  for  a  bet- 
ter future  for  humanity. 

These  are,  in  brief,  the  fundamental  ideas  upon  which 
the  system  of  education  of  Dewey  is  built.  The  practical 
carrying  out  of  this  system  in  the  School  of  Education  at 
Chicago  has  led  to  a  rapid  development  of  this  school,  and 
the  reputation  which  it  has  gained,  attended  as  it  is  by 
children  of  the  best  families,  speaks  for  the  good  results 
of  its  activity. 

Education  begins  in  the  kindergarten  and  in  the  lower 
grades  lays  special  stress  upon  introducing  the  children  to 
the  forms  of  "primitive  life,"  in  order  to  make  clear  to 
them  how  humanity  has  progressed  from  that  stage  to  the 
high  stage  of  civilization  of  the  present.  The  relation- 
ship which  exists  between  the  life  of  the  child,  and  the  life 
in  the  childhood  of  humanity  becomes  clear  to  the  con- 
sciousness of  the  child  and  leads  to  an  active  interest  in 
the  development  of  the  culture  of  humanit}'.  The  young- 
er children  begin  with  the  activities  in  the  home,  while 
the  higher  grades  are  instructed  in  the  industries  which 
are  carried  on  outside  of  the  home,  and  in  the  larger  social 
activities  such  as  farming,  forestry,  and  manufacturing. 
Accordingly,  the  handwork  develops  in  three  directions: 
first,  activities  connected  with  the  preparation  of  means 
of  nourishment;  secondly,  activities  in  the  workshop; 
thirdly,  activities  with  textiles,  sewing  and  weaving.  By 
means  of  all  these  activities  the  child  exercises  his  organs 


132  HANDWORK  INSTRUCTION  FOR  BOYS. 

of  sense,  the  eye  and  the  hand,  and  becomes  accustomed 
to  order,  diligence,  and  carefulness.  The  memory  and 
the  power  of  reason  are  trained,  since  the  child  must 
learn  to  do  things  in  systematic  order.  Through  the  ac- 
tivity of  cooking,  chemical  knowledge  is  acquired ;  the 
shopwork  leads  up  to  geometric  principles  and  to  the 
handling  of  numbers;  and  the  theoretical  work,  which  is 
connected  with  sewing  and  w^eaving,  leads  to  geography. 
The  exercises  which  are  connected  with  the  contemplation 
of  "primitive  life"  lead  to  history  and  to  the  discussion  of 
social  life.  The  pursuit  of  natural  science  leads  to  an 
understanding  of  the  forces  of  nature  and  their  applica- 
tion in  the  service  of  humanity ;  the  construction  of  castles 
and  clocks  forms  the  starting  point  of  mechanics;  the  un- 
derstanding of  the  telegraph  and  the  telephone,  the  start- 
ing point  of  electricity. 

Concerning  the  justification  of  this  plan  of  instruction,' 
which,  as  will  be  admitted  without  further  discussion,  has 
had  its  predecessors  in  German  scientific  pedagog\',  (Zil- 
ler,  Rein,  and  O.  W.  Beyer),  further  discussion  will  not  be 
added.  For  our  purpose  the  fact  suffices  that  the  Horace 
Mann  School  in  New  York  also  works  with  equally  favor- 
able results  according  to  a  curriculum  which  is  based 
upon  the  same  principles.  This  school,  like  the  School 
of  Education  in  Chicago,  is  also  abundantly  equipped 
with  means  of  instruction  and  workshops.  We  find 
there,  for  example,  complete  tableaux  for  the  "primitive 
life,"  houses  built  of  stone  and  earth,  representations  of 
the  simplest  forms  of  agriculture  and  the  relations  of  man 
to  animal  and  plant.  Models  of  mills,  locks,  and  con- 
trivances for  intercourse  and  transportation  are  made  of 
the  simplest  material  by  the  children  of  dififerent  ages; 


SYSTEMS  IN  DIFFERENT  COUNTRIES.  133 

vessels  of  ciay  are  first  constructed  simply  with  the  hand 
and  later  with  the  aid  of  a  potter's  wheel  and  painted 
from  a  model  according  to  nature;  thus  the  relation  be- 
tween drawing  and  art  is  established.  Work  in  wool 
and  cotton  leads  to  the  textile  industry;  the  preparation 
of  food,  which  begins  in  the  fifth  school  year  with  ex- 
ercises in  cooking  of  the  simplest  kind,  leads  to  chemistry, 
and  the  observation  and  culture  of  plants  and  animals 
leads  to  biology.  Instruction  in  art  begins  in  the  lowest 
grade  with  drawings  from  nature  and  with  modeling  of 
simple  objects;  and  since  handwork  and  art  here  as  well 
as  in  most  of  the  American  schools  are  regarded  simply 
as  belonging  together,  it  is  worth  while  giving  space  to 
the  complete  curriculum  of  the  seven  classes  of  the  ele- 
mentary school. 

The  curriculum  prescribes  the  following: 
First  Grade — 

Handwork:  Construction  of  numerous  objects  which 
are  related  to  the  hunting  and  fishing  stage  of  the  primi- 
tive life. 

Art :  Painting  from  nature  branches  of  flowers,  etc. ; 
studies  in  color;  modeling  of  fruits,  animals,  and  simple 
vessels.  Drawing  and  sketching  of  man  and  animal  from 
life,  on  the  blackboard  and  with  the  brush.  Rendering 
of  atmosphere,  in  a  childish  way.  Study  of  pictures. 
Second  Grade — 

Handwork:  Construction  of  numerous  objects  which 
represent  the  development  of  the  activities  of  the  pastoral 
stage  of  primitive  life.  Work  with  reference  to  nature 
study. 

Art:  Drawing  of  branches,  flowers,  etc.  Modeling 
and  drawing  from  scenes  in  the  pastoral  stage.     Study  of 


134  HANDWORK  INSTRUCTION  FOR  BOYS. 

color.  Proportions.  Representations  of  the  activities 
and  simple  positions  of  animals  and  mgn.  Simple  out- 
lines and  studies  of  pictures. 

Third  Grade— 

Handwork:  Construction  of  objects  for  the  demon- 
stration of  the  activities  in  the  stage  of  the  simplest  com- 
merce and  discoveries.  Life  in  Manhattan,  for  example, 
ships  and  Dutch  houses.  (Manhattan  vi^as  the  Indian 
settlement  near  which  the  Dutch  established  their  first 
colony  in  1624.) 

Art:  Study  of  flowers,  seed  pods,  etc.  Sketches  from 
life  (man  and  animal)  with  color  and  pen  and  ink. 
Simple,  well-shaped  flowers,  drawing  and  modeling. 
Study  of  the  time  of  the  Vikings  and  knights.  Dutch 
life,  costumes,  etc.    Study  of  pictures. 

Fourth  Grade — 

Handwork:  The  curriculum  is  differentiated;  the  work 
concerns  itself  with  the  domestic  activities  of  the  colonial 
period. 

Art:  Drawing  and  painting  in  connection  with  nature 
study — trees,  blossoms,  and  fruits.  Sketching  in  color 
and  charcoal.  Construction  and  decorative  designs  for 
pottery  and  weaving.     Study  of  pictures. 

Fifth  Grade — 

Handwork :  Transition  from  domestic  industry  to  in- 
dustrial art  with  regard  for  present  social  needs. 

Art:  Nature  studies  in  grouping  of  branches  with  a 
background.  Scale  of  colors.  Constructive  and  decora- 
tive designs  from  Greek  vases  and  lamps  which  are  mod- 
eled in  clay.     Study  of  pictures. 


SYSTEMS  IN  DIFFERENT  COUNTRIES.  135 

Sixth  Grade — 

Handwork:  Sewing  for  girls;  work  in  house  building 
for  boys.  JVIechanical  elements  preparatory  to  the  stage 
of  factory  activity. 

Art:  Continuation  of  drawing,  painting,  and  modeling. 
Scale  of  colors  and  their  application  in  designs.      Study 
of  pictures. 
Seventh  Grade — 

Handwork:  Cooking  for  the  girls;  for  the  boys,  in- 
troduction into  industrial  activity  by  means  of  designs  in 
wood  made  from  drawings.  Models  of  means  of  trans- 
portation— carriage,  railroad,  ship,  elevator,  etc. 

Art:  Continuation  of  drawing,  painting,  and  modeling. 
Scale  of  colors.  Designs.  Study  of  objects  of  nature  and 
landscapes  with  reference  to  colonial  life.  Study  of  pic- 
tures. 

If  the  foregoing  plan  indicates  how  extensively  hand- 
work is  fostered  in  connection  with  drawing  in  a  private 
school,  it  will  be  shown  further  that  the  public  school 
is  achieving  remarkable  results  in  this  direction. 

In  New  York  I  had  the  opportunity  of  seeing  an  exhi- 
bition of  the  results  of  the  instruction  in  drawing  and 
handwork  which  included  selected  typical  examples  of  the 
work  which  had  been  done  during  the  previous  year  by 
the  boys  and  girls  of  the  different  public  schools  of  the 
city.  From  it  a  fairly  complete  picture  could  be  formed 
of  the  achievement  of  these  branches  of  instruction. 

Handwork  begins  in  the  first  school  j'ears  with  exer- 
cises in  paper  and  cardboard  which  are  connected  with  the 
Fröbel  work  previously  accomplished  in  the  kindergarten, 
and  with  instruction  in  reading  and  other  branches,  es- 
pecially object  teaching.      It  consists  of  simple  exercises 


136  HANDWORK  INSTRUCTION  FOR  BOYS. 

in  cutting,  folding,  and  pasting,  all  of  which  are  done  in 
different  materials;  in  these  activities  especial  care  is  taken 
in  using  suitable  colors  together.  This  work  nearly  cor- 
responds to  that  which  we  designate  in  our  German 
courses  of  study  as  "work  of  the  preliminary  stage." 

Immediately  following  the  work  in  paper  and  card- 
board comes  that  in  pasteboard,  which  is  carried  on  from 
the  fifth  to  the  eighth  school  year  in  those  schools  which 
have  no  special  workshop.  At  the  International  Congress 
of  Drawing  Teachers  in  Bern  in  1904  this  work  in  paste- 
board from  the  public  schools  of  New  York  attracted  the 
attention  of  competent  judges.  They  noted  not  only  the 
original  forms  emplo3'ed  but  also  the  tasteful  combinations 
of  colors  and  the  thorough  adaptation  of  the  ornament  to 
the  material. 

Another  department  consists  of  problems  in  wood  which 
are  constructed  at  the  planing  bench,  and  consequently 
can  only  be  carried  on  in  those  schools  in  which  there  is 
the  equipment  for  it.  In  the  public  schools  of  New  York, 
in  so  far  as  the  conditions  mentioned  are  fulfilled,  such 
work  is  carried  on  from  the  sixth  grade  up,  but  only  by 
boys,  the  girls  being  given  instruction  in  housekeeping. 
Elsewhere  the  girls  are  permitted  to  take  part  in  the 
woodwork,  just  as  boys  are  allowed  to  take  part  in  the 
cooking. 

The  work  at  the  planing  bench  is  carried  on  in  close 
connection  with  the  instruction  in  drawing  in  the  public 
schools  of  New  York;  an  hour  and  a  half  each  week  is 
devoted  to  the  actual  shopwork.  Of  the  objects  which 
are  made,  for  example,  clock  stands,  serving  boards,  post 
card  holders,  book  racks,  and  the  like,  the  fundamental 
forms  are  given,  but  the  individual  development  of  those 
fundamental  forms  is  left  to  the  pupil. 


SYSTEMS  IN  DIFFERENT  COUNTRIES.  137 

Several  schools  had  worked  out  simple  problems  in 
metal,  small  ornamental  objects,  and  especially  small 
problems  in  iron.  Even  here  the  forms  had  been  happily 
selected  and  the  technique  was  in  all  its  simplicity  solid  and 
substantial. 

A  system  of  instruction  in  handwork  similar  to  that  of 
the  public  schools  of  New  York  which  has  just  been  char- 
acterized is  found  in  other  cities  of  the  United  States ;  in 
Boston,  for  example,  the  public  school  system  of  which 
shows  an  especially  high  development,  the  instruction  in 
handwork  begins  likewise  in  the  kindergarten  with  the 
Fröbel  problems  and  continues  through  all  the  school 
years. 

The  woodwork  of  the  upper  grades  is  carried  on  in 
Boston  only  by  the  boys,  while  the  girls  receive  instruc- 
tion in  cooking  and  housekeeping.  Forty-seven  public 
schools  of  the  city  are  equipped  with  special  workshops 
for  woodwork  and  are  used  by  several  neighboring  schools. 

The  entire  sjstem  of  handwork  of  the  city  is  under  the 
direction  of  a  supervisor,  to  whom  the  special  teachers 
and  their  assistants  are  responsible. 

Even  in  the  evening  schools,  where  the  attendance  is 
voluntary,  manual  training  has  recently  been  introduced 
along  with  instruction  in  domestic  economy,  so  that  the 
growing  youth  is  given  an  opportunity  even  beyond  the 
school  time  to  be  trained  in  shopwork. 

The  systems  in  accordance  with  which  this  work  is 
carried  on  are,  on  the  whole,  very  different ;  of  the  foreign 
influences  one  often  recognizes  that  of  Swedish  sloyd,  and 
also,  to  some  extent  that  of  the  German  instruction  in 
handuork.  The  principal  stress  is  placed  almost  entirely 
upon  Vvoodwork,  while  metalwork  and  modeling  are  not 
everj^vhere  pursued. 


138  HANDWORK  INSTRUCTION  FOR  BOYS. 

We  have  j^et  to  mention  a  kind  of  handwork  which  has 
a  large  field  in  the  American  schools  and  is  probably  car- 
ried to  the  degree  of  an  artistic  accomplishment  which  far 
exceeds  that  which  is  found  elsewhere  in  this  connection. 
li  i5  the  so-called  "basketry,"  work  in  weaving  in  differ- 
ent materials.  This  is  not  only  carried  on  with  great  zeal 
in  the  very  popular  vacation  schools — in  all  large  cities 
such  vacation  schools  are  kept  up  during  the  long  summer 
vacation  from  July  to  September — but  has  also  frequently 
found  a  place  in  the  regular  work  of  instruction.  It  is 
evident  that  this  work  can  be  very  valuable  in  the  devel- 
opment of  the  artistic  taste  with  reference  to  form  and 
color;  besides,  one  must  say  in  praise  of  such  work  that 
it  offers  especially  good  exercise  for  the  hand,  because  the 
left  hand  also  takes  part  in  it.  That  it  is  further  adapt- 
ed to  arouse  the  interest  of  the  pupils  is  best  shown  by  the 
answer  of  a  pupil  of  a  seminary  in  Brooklyn,  an  intelli- 
gent young  girl,  whom  I  asked  if  they  derived  pleasure 
from  this  work.  She  replied,  "The  best  time  we  have  the 
whole  week!" 

The  high  development  of  basketry  is  evidently  con- 
nected with  the  old  artistic  accomplishments  of  the  In- 
dians in  whose  domestic  industry  such  work  even  today 
plays  an  important  part. 

With  a  correct  understanding  of  the  economic  signifi- 
cance of  this  native  industry,  the  American  government 
offers  it  every  possible  encouragement;  it  has  provided  in 
the  Indian  reservations  special  schools  for  this  purpose,  as 
particularly  in  the  education  of  the  colored  races  (Indians 
and  negroes)  handwork  is  used  to  the  greatest  extent.  The 
education  of  the  colored  races,  especially  that  of  the  negroes, 
is  for  the  United  States  an  exceedingly  difficult  problem, 


SYSTEMS  IN  DIFFERENT  COUNTRIES.  139 

in  the  solution  of  which  instruction  in  handwork  for  peo- 
ple of  all  ages  is  found  to  be  one  of  the  most  effective 
means.  In  the  large  institutions  which  have  been  founded 
for  the  purpose  of  educating  the  colored  races  it  plays, 
therefore,  the  chief  role;  for  example,  in  the  school  at 
Tuskegee,  conducted  by  the  intellectual  leader  of  the 
negroes,  Booker  T.  Washington,  in  which  technical  work 
is  carried  on  in  all  its  forms,  from  the  roughest  work  in 
the  field  and  in  the  workshop  to  the  finest  work  in  book 
printing  establishment,  mechanical  workshops,  etc.  The 
results  of  this  education  in  work,  in  which,  as  a  matter  of 
course,  the  female  sex  also  has  an  interest,  are  exceedingly 
favorable.  Booker  T.  Washington  himself  has  published 
an  interesting  little  book  concerning  it  under  the  title, 
"The  Fruits  of  Industrial  Training." 

It  is  noticeable  that  the  American,  who  is  more  than 
anything  else  a  person  of  will,  and  who  endeavors  also 
thruout  his  education  to  work  especially  upon  the  will, 
places  so  high  a  value  upon  technical  work  as  a  means  of 
education.  Evidently  he  has  in  this  respect,  with  his 
practical  sense  and  insight,  which  are  characteristic  of 
him,  recognized  the  correct  thing  and  fixed  his  eyes  upon 
its  execution  from  the  very  beginning.  The  theoretical 
establishment  of  the  indispensability  of  handwork  in  the 
system  of  education,  which  is  encouraged  in  almost  no 
country  as  in  America,  comes  about  there  in  response  to 
an  instinctive  predilection  for  handwork,  and  has  not 
been  compelled  to  overcome  first  the  difficulties  and  pre- 
judices which  in  Germany,  for  instance,  are  opposed  to 
the  deeper  pedagogical  insight. 

The  example  set  by  the  United  States  cannot  fail  to 
exert  an  influence  upon  other  countries  in  placing  strong 


140  HANDWORK  INSTRUCTION  FOR  BOYS. 

emphasis  upon  technical  instruction  for  the  purpose  of 
education.  In  the  educational  exhibit  at  St.  Louis  this 
influence  was  very  marked,  for  example,  in  the  case  of 
Cuba,  the  system  of  eduaction  of  which  has  been  rapidly 
improved  under  American  supervision.  The  countries  of 
South  America  have  been  more  dependent  upon  European 
influences  in  their  development,  if  we  can  judge  from 
their  educational  exhibits;  Brazil,  for  example,  shows  un- 
mistakably the  influence  of  Germany,  while  Argentine 
Republic  works  in  accordance  with  the  Swedish  system. 
In  any  case,  there  was  visible  in  these  countries  a  notice- 
able cultivation  of  instruction  in  handwork  for  boys  and 
girls.  This  is  also  true  of  India,  where  naturally  the 
work  is  carried  on  according  to  the  English  system,  and, 
above  all,  of  Japan,  the  exhibit  of  which  attracted  atten- 
tion because  of  its  copiousness,  excellent  arrangement,  and 
systematic  perfection. 

Public  education  in  Japan  begins  with  the  kindergar- 
ten, utilizing  all  the  activities  which  correspond  to  the 
age  of  the  child  in  an  excellent,  thorough  manner.  The 
complete  exhibit  of  the  elementary  school,  which  is  con- 
nected with  it,  showed,  in  addition  to  a  large  number  of 
pieces  of  handwork,  also  very  charming  drawings,  which 
were  done  on  the  finest  silk  paper  and  stitched  together 
in  an  elegant  way.  In  connection  with  this  exhibit  was 
that  of  the  higher  schools,  of  which  the  Royal  Technical 
School  in  Tokio  especially  exhibited  excellent,  artistic 
handwork  in  wood,  metal,  ivory,  ceramics,  etc.  The  ex- 
hibit of  the  higher  Seminar  for  teachers  in  Tokio  gave  the 
best  survey  of  the  system  of  instruction  in  handwork  of 
Japan.  This  contained,  on  more  than  twenty  tables,  sev- 
eral hundred   models,   which   illustrated   in   an   excellent 


SYSTEMS  IN  DIFFERENT  COUNTRIES.  141 

way  the  instruction  in  handwork  of  this  school  of  four 
classes.  It  begins  in  the  first  school  year  with  two  les- 
sons a  week  and  is  followed  later  by  three  lessons.  In 
all  the  grades  it  is  closely  connected  with  drawing  and 
technique  in  the  application  of  colors.  The  instruction  be- 
gins with  the  simplest  problems  with  sticks  and  strings, 
succeeded  by  work  with  bamboo  and  wood.  Later,  paper 
and  pasteboard,  tin  and  iron  are  used,  and  modeling  re- 
ceives careful  attention. 

The  perfection  of  the  Japanese  system  of  instruction 
in  work,  which  was  brought  to  light  in  the  Exposition  at 
St.  Louis  and  which  was  noticed  even  in  the  educational 
exhibit  at  Paris  in  1900,  in  which  the  northern  countries 
(Sweden,  Russia,  and  Denmark)  were  very  prominent, 
is  in  perfect  harmony  with  that  which  we  have  learned 
from  other  sources  concerning  the  educational  system  of 
the  people  of  culture  of  the  Far  East.  Even  in  the  year 
1894  it  was  reported,  for  example,  that  Japan  possessed 
two  hundred  technical  schools.  If,  in  connection  with 
this  fact,  we  take  into  consideration  that  the  Japanese 
have  adopted  the  best  ideas  and  educational  methods  of 
Europe  and  have  known  how  to  use  them  to  advantage, 
this  fact  is  not  altogether  surprising.  The  study  of  a 
very  interesting  collection  of  pieces  of  handwork  done  in 
Japanese  boys'  schools,  which  is  in  the  possession  of  Prof. 
Richards  of  Teachers  College,  New  York,  led  me  rather 
to  another  opinion ;  that  is,  that  the  Japanese  instruction 
in  handwork  has  experienced  a  tolerably  independent 
development.  The  superiority  of  Japan,  which  is  now 
generally  recognized  in  almost  every  province  of  indus- 
trial art,  at  least  in  so  far  as  it  depends  upon  handwork, 
only  goes  to  establish  this  opinion.     At  all  events,  it  is 


142  HANDWORK  INSTRUCTION  FOR  BOYS. 

interesting  that  the  Japanese  in  the  technique  of  metals  use 
certain  model  forms  and  methods  of  work  which  are  al- 
most exactly  like  ours ;  the  similarity  of  the  Japanese 
technique  with  that  which  we  practice,  for  example,  in 
Leipsic,  is  decidedly  surprising,  and  yet,  according  to  all 
appearances,  there  is  no  external  connection  between  our 
Leipsic  system  and  the  Japanese. 

It  is  then  only  a  matter  of  confirming  the  general  law 
that  every  pure  form  of  technique  must  be  adapted  to  its 
material,  and  this  law  naturally  holds  good  for  Japan  just 
as  well  as  for  Germany. 

The  thought,  that  instruction  in  handwork  shows  a 
development  which  is  not  limited  to  any  one  country  or 
people  but  is  accomplished  among  the  different  peoples  of 
the  earth  along  parallel  lines  and  points  to  a  definite  goal, 
expresses  a  general  truth,  and  can  be  made  a  generaliza- 
tion. As  the  idea  of  instruction  in  work  has  been  fore- 
seen by  the  great  educators  of  different  peoples,  and  as  it 
has  spread  at  the  present  time  from  Finland  to  South 
America,  from  Scotland  to  Japan  and  Australia,  so  it  will 
also  in  the  future  gain  a  place  in  the  system  of  education 
of  all  peoples. 

Transitory  drawbacks,  which  may  for  different  reasons 
temporarily  hinder,  to  a  greater  or  less  extent,  the  spread 
of  the  idea,  will  never  be  able  to  suppress  or  destroy  it 
entirely.  Such  appearances  are  seen  in  the  spread  of  all 
moral,  political,  and  social  ideas;  they  correspond  thor- 
oly  to  the  general  laws  of  intellectual  development,  for 
every  curve  of  development  has  its  rise  and  fall. 

He  who  desires  the  most  favorable  development  of  the 
German  people  for  the  future  will  have  to  wish  that  its 
education  shall  be  an  education  for  work  and  thru  work. 


PLATES 

ILLUSTRATING    TYPES    OF    HANDWORK    AND 
EQUIPMENT    FOR    HANDWORK. 


145 


14: 


HI.       MODELING,    teachers'    TRAILING    SCHOOL,    LEIPSIC. 


149 


151 


^•t-^ 


153 


155 


157 


159 


161 


163 


165 


Books  on   the  Manual  Arts 


HANDWORK  IN  WOOD.     By  William  Noyes. 

A  handbook  for  teachers  and  a  textbook  for  Dormal 
school  and  college  students.  A  comprehensive  and 
scholarly  treatise,  covering  logging,  sawmilling,  season- 
ing and  measuring,  hand  tools,  wood  fastenings,  equip- 
ment and  care  of  the  shop,  the  common  joints,  types  of 
wood  structures,  principles  of  joinery,  and  wood  finish- 
ing. 304  illustrations — excellent  pen  drawings  by  Anna 
Gausmann  Noyes.     Price,  $2.00. 

ESSENTIALS  OF  WOODWORKING.  By  Ira  S.  Griffith. 
A  textbook  written  especially  for  the  use  of  grammar 
and  high  school  students.  A  clear  and  comprehensive 
treatment  of  woodworking  tools,  materials,  and  processes, 
to  supplement,  but  not  too  take  the  place  of  the  instruction 
given  by  the  teacher.  The  book  does  not  contain  a  course 
of  models;  it  may  be  used  with  any  course.  It  is  illus- 
trated with  photographs  and  numerous  pen  drawings  by 
Edwin  V.  Lawernce.     Price,  $1.00. 

BEGINNING  WOODWORK.  At  Home  and  in  School. 

By  Clinton  S.  VanDuesen, 
A  full  and  clear  description  in  detail  of  the  funda- 
mental processes  of  elementary  benchwork  in  wood.  Thif 
description  is  given  through  directions  for  making  a  few 
simple,  useful  articles,  suitable  either  for  school  or  home 
problems.  The  book  contains  more  than  one  hundred 
original  sketches  and  ten  working  drawings  by  Edwin 
V.  Lawrence.     Price,  $1.00. 

WOODWORK  FOR  SCHOOLS  ON  SCIENTIFIC  LINES. 

By  James  Thomas  Baily  and  S.  Pollitt. 
The    American   edition    of    an    English    book   containing 
120  practical  problems,  many  of  which  have  been  designed 
to  correlate  mathematics  and  physical  science  with  manual 
training.     Price,  75  cents. 


PUBLISHED   BY 

The  Manual  Arts  Press,  Peoria,  Illinois 


Books  on   the  Manual  Arts 


PROBLEMS  IN  WOODWORKING.     By  M.  W.  Murray. 

A  convenient  collection  of  good  problems  consisting  of 
forty  plates  bound  in  heavy  paper  covers  with  brass 
fasteners.  Each  plate  is  a  working  drawing,  or  problem 
in  benchwork  that  has  been  successfully  worked  out  by 
boys  in  one  of  the  grades  from  seven  to  nine  inclusive. 
Price,  75  cents.     Board  covers,  20  cents  extra. 

PROBLEMS  IN  FURNITURE  MAKING. 

By  Fred  D.  Crawshaw. 
This  book  consists  of  32  plates  of  working  drawings 
suitable  for  use  in  grammar  and  high  schools  and  24 
pages  of  text,  including  chapters  on  design,  construction 
and  finishes,  and  notes  on  the  problems.  Price,  $1.00. 
Board  covers,  20  cents  extra. 

PROBLEMS  IN  WOOD-TURNING.  By  Fred  D.  Crawshaw. 
In  the  first  place  this  is  a  book  of  problems — 25  plates 
covering  spindle,  face-plate,  and  chuck  turning.  In  the 
second  place  it  is  a  textbook  on  the  science  and  art  of 
wood-turning  illustrated  by  fifty  pen  sketches.  It  gives 
the  mathematical  basis  for  the  cuts  used  in  turning.  In 
the  third  place  it  is  a  helpful  discussion  of  the  principles 
of  design  as  applied  to  objects  turned  in  wood.  It  is  a 
clear,  practical  and  suggestive  book  on  wood-turning. 
Price,  80  cents.     Board  covers,  20  cents  extra. 

PROBLEMS  IN  MECHANICAL  DRAWING.  By  Charles 
A.  Bennett.  With  drawings  made  by  Fred  D.  Craw- 
shaw. 

This  book  consists  of  80  plates  and  a  few  explanatory 
notes,  and  is  bound  in  heavy  paper  covers  with  brass 
fasteners.  Its  purpose  is  to  furnish  teachers  of  classes 
beginning  mechanical  drawing  with  a  large  number  of 
simple,  practical  problems.  These  have  been  selected 
with  reference  to  the  formation  of  good  habits  in  tech- 
nique, the  interest  of  the  pupils,  and  the  subjects 
generally  included  in  a  grammar  and  first-year  high 
school  course.  Each  problem  given  is  unsolved  and 
therefore  in  proper  form  to  hand  to  the  pupil  for  solution. 
Price,  $1.00.     Board  covers,  20  cents  extra. 


PUBLISHED   BY 

The  Manual  Arts  Press,  Peoria,  Illinois 


Books  on   the   Manual  Arts 


SELECTED  SHOP  PROBLEMS.     By  George  A.  Seatok. 

A  collection  of  sixteen  problems  in  woodworking  made 
to  meet  the  needs  of  busy  teachers  of  manual  training. 
Each  problem  has  been  put  to  the  test  and  has  proven 
satisfactory  to  the  teacher  who  designed  it  and  the  pupil 
who  made  it.     Price,  20  cents. 

COPING  SAW  WORK.     By  Ben  W.  Johnson. 

Contains  working  drawings  and  suggestions  for  teach- 
ing a  course  of  work  in  thin  wood  that  is  full  of  fun  for 
the  children,  and  affords  ample  means  for  training  in 
form  study,  construction,  invention  and  careful  work. 
Has  been  called  "applied  mechanics  for  the  fourth  grade." 
Price,  20  cents. 

THE  CONSTRUCTION  AND  FLYING  OF  KITES. 

By  Charles  M,  Miller. 

This  contains  seven  full-page  plates  of  drawings  of 
kites  and  fifteen  figures — over  forty  kites  shown.  Details 
of  construction  given ;  a  kite  tournament  is  described. 
Full  of  interesting  suggestions.     Price,  20  cents. 

CLAY  WORK.     By  Katherine  Morris  Lester. 

This  book  has  been  written  by  a  grade  teacher  and 
art  worker  to  help  teachers  in  acquiring  the  technique  of 
clay  working,  and  to  give  them  suggestions  concerning 
the  teaching  of  the  several  types  of  clay  work  suited  to 
pupils  in  the  elementary  schools.  It  covers  the  study  of 
natural  forms,  the  human  figure  in  relief,  and  the  round, 
animal  forms,  story  illustration,  architectural  ornament, 
tiles,  hand-built  pottery,  and  pottery  decoration.  The 
book  is  richly  illustrated  with  more  than  fifty  half-tone 
and  line  cuts  showing  processes,  designs,  and  the  work 
of  children  from  ten  to  twelve  years  of  age.    Price,  $1.00. 

THE  WASH  METHOD  OF  HANDLING  WATER  COLOUR. 

By  Frank  Forrest  Frederick. 
A  brief,  clear,  comprehensive  text  printed  in  sepia  and 
illustrated   with  wash  drawings  and   a  water-color  paint- 
ing by  the  author.     Price,  50  cents. 


published  by 

The  Manual  Arts  Press,  Peoria,  Illinois 


Books  on   the  Manual  Arts 


HANDWORK  INSTRUCTION  FOR  BOYS.  By  Dr.  Alwin 
Pabst.  Translated  by  Bertha  Reed  Coffman. 
A  philosophical  and  historical  review  of  manual  training 
for  boys  and  a  discussion  of  the  systems  in  vogue  in  the 
several  European  countries  and  in  America,  by  the  director 
of  the  normal  school  for  teachers  of  manual  training  at 
Leipsic.  With  plates  showing  typical  manual  training 
workshops.    Price,  $1.00. 

HANDICRAFT  FOR  GIRLS.     By  Idabelle  McGlauflin. 

A  handbook  for  teachers,  detailing  a  five-years  course 
in  sewing  for  girls,  in  the  public  schools.  Chapters  on 
stitches,  fibers  and  fabrics,  cloth  and  cardboard  con- 
struction, basketry,  dress  in  its  relation  to  art,  and  home 
furnishing.  It  is  definite  enough  to  be  thoroly  practical 
and  elastic  enough  to  suit  the  varied  conditions  in  rural, 
village  or  city  schools.     Price,  $1.00. 

SIMPLIFIED   MECHANICAL    PERSPECTIVE.      By   Frank 

Forrest  Frederick. 

A  book  of  simple  problems  covering  the  essentials  of 
mechanical  perspective.  It  is  planned  for  pupils  of  high 
school  age  who  have  already  received  some  elementary 
training  in  mechanical  drawing.  It  is  simple,  direct  and 
practical.     Price,  75  cents. 

CLASSROOM  PRACTICE  IN    DESIGN.     By  James  Parton 
Haney. 
A  concise  up-to-date,  richly  illustrated  brochure  on  the 
teaching  of  applied  design.     Price,  50  cents. 

MANUAL  TRAINING  MAGAZINE.     Charles  A.  Bennett, 
Editor.     William  T.  Bawden,  Managing  Editor. 

Assisted  by  a  staff  of  associate  and  department  editors. 
Illustrated;  published  bi-monthly.  Subscription  price,  $1.50 
a  year;  single  copies,  35  cents.  To  foreign  countries,  in- 
cluding Canada,  $1.75  a  J'ear,  single  copies,  40  cents. 


PUBLISHED   BY 

The  Manual  Arts  Press,  Peoria,  Illinois 


STATE  NORMAL  SCHOOL 

LOS  AKGi:i^f5.  C^^•C.£^^?1A 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 

Los  Angeles 
This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


I    NOV  0219« 


REC'D  LD-URL 
JUL  2  91992 


t 


UCLA-Young   Research    Library 

LB1595   .P11 


L   009   577   052   5 


